The Master of Disaster
by Scorp316
Summary: Sonic is killed in action, and shortly after, Eggman takes his wrongful place as King. A certain mobian decides it's time to end his rein once and for all. But, with the breakout of a new disease, such a feat is easier said than done. COMPLETE!
1. Prolugue

Honest, I don't own the song. Is it obvious yet that I love music?

_Close one there,_

_Choking in clean underwear_

_Bleeding tongue_

_8-Ball pounding in my lungs_

_Ship to shore  
I can't see the coastline anymore_

_I shouldn't be here._

_I thought I made that loud and clear_

_But the Master of Disaster_

_Gets tangled in his tele-caster_

_He can't play it any faster_

_When he plays the blues._

_Would he have the heart to ask her?  
And every note just shook the plaster_

_Now he's just a mean old bastard_

_When he plays the blues._

_Chinatown,_

_We're chasing that old dragon down._

_Night on the walls_

_We play the blues with the curtains drawn_

_Sidewalks of white,_

_The alley's son beat out the light_

_Pounding brain,_

_My last transmission down the drain_

_And the Master of Disaster_

_Gets tangled in his tele-caster_

_He can't play it any faster_

_When he plays the blues._

_Would he have the heart to ask her?  
And every note just shook the plaster_

_Now he's just a mean old bastard_

_When he plays the blues._

_There's a dead-eyed hope_

_I never pay before I go,_

_So I sing the blues._

_Hand me down my walking shoes_

_You're in my heart,_

_Though we may be miles apart_

_There's my point._

_I'll see you in another joint_

_When the Master of Disaster_

_Gets tangled in his tele-caster_

_He can't play it any faster _

_When he plays the blues._

_Would he have the heart to ask her?  
And every note just shook the plaster_

_Now he's just a mean old bastard _

_When he plays the blues._

_Now he's just a mean old bastard_

_When he plays the blues._

- John Hiatt, "Master Of Disaster", Track 1, Master of Disaster, _John Hiatt and the Goners_

Seen it a few times, decided I'd use the idea. Don't judge me, lest I find you and cut your eyelids off.

In 2005, I read a story online, and I was just amazed at how organized this person's writing was. I thought, "hey, this is good... maybe I should give it a shot." And so, I threw together a story of my own, called "The Group of Legends".... and it was so bad that common sense dictated that I shouldn't even bother saving the thing. I read the story again in 2006, and again I felt the need to try and write my own first story or book or whatever you want to call it. I'll just call it "stook". Of course, I was at least 12 or 13 during my first story, so for me, 3 paragraphs in one day was a huge accomplishment. My first chapter was about "2KB" on my computer. Altogether, my first story reached a grand total of.... a little over 5,000 words. Oh, and there was no such thing as "The Guillotine" or "The Double Cutter" during story 1. It was confusing, esoteric, and a complete disaster in my own eyes... in other words, it's my own type of story. I wrote 2 or 3 more stories in 2006, all still in the suckish stages. I didn't start to clean up my language (no pun intended) until around stook 5. After stook 5, I didn't write number 6. Number 7 was all me, and so was 8. 9 was (i think) all me, and 10 was with assistance. As I progressed with story writing, I became much better. Practice made decent for me.

That may or may not be interesting, but now you've got it in your brain cells so you're stuck with it.

Voila!

End of Prologue

**The real story starts next chapter. I just wanted to get a few things off my chest first. That's one thing about me. I ramble about stupid stuff.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It's all gone. Everything. Nothing...

What is that which people think? It's never as bad as it's made out to be? It is. No, worse. There's nobody worse off than the world that's been conquered. One hero, he's dead. The only hero, he's dead.

Thus, the world is screwed.

How did the blue hero die? It was a grizzly death, certainly. No mercy. He tried to run past turrets, a strategy he's used over and over and over again, coming out completely unharmed and with his famous smirk, the 'you're out of bullets' smirk. But...

Did he trip?

Did he misjudge his speed?  
What happened?

For one reason or another, the hedgehog had stopped, and turned into Swiss Cheese as various bullets with the ability to pierce armor tore through his body. He was dead before hitting the ground.

The tyrant managed just fine. He took his wrongful place as King of his world. The rebels, without the blue hedgehog, would last little longer than four more months. Soon, all rebellions were put down. The tyrant didn't charge those involved in the rebellion. He merely forced all to live inside the castle that he lived in, to keep his eye on the possible danger. He knew the steps to revolution and collapse. It starts as a spiral down in the economy, as a recession. Next, all people lose faith in the leader, and the recession becomes a depression. After the depression, a complete revolution. But, King Eggman knew how to treat his economy. He constantly regulated the money, making sure he did everything to avoid a revolution. Deep down, the King knew there was no real reason to worry. He had killed the only person that stood in his way, and that 'person' was an animal. The hedgehog was buried in a shallow grave, a final insult delivered by the king. He had been buried in a field, a field completely devoid of agriculture and life. A pink hedgehog stood above his grave, marked by a metal pole jutting out of the ground.

"It's only been four months... the world's upside down."

She was unstable. Her mind was still healthy, but she was close to a nervous breakdown. Eyes had to be kept on the girl because of her depression. She let a tear fall down her cheek.

"I miss you."

She couldn't say much else, except that she felt that when he went to the grave, part of her did as well. Sighing, she went back to the castle. As much as she hated it, the castle held an odor, the odor or scent that had become part of her as well.

The castle, it was her worst enemy... but also her home. Without saying a word to the King, whom sat at his throne, she approached her room. She had been hopeful for the first few weeks that someone would bring the tyrant down. There had already been several attempts on his life. Some of the conspirators were found, but one more remained at large, and unknown. Eggman had long since abandoned the search for whomever the assassin was. Nobody saw the face, meaning everybody was a suspect, but nobody was guilty.

Amy didn't know, but as she stood in her room, a sniper had her in his sights through a scope.

"Nope, that's not him..."

The sniper's finger came off the trigger, and he brought the gun up, taking Amy out of the immediate danger. He moved on to another window, went prone, and looked through his scope. A fox, seemingly young.

But, Amy had exited her room, deciding to see Tails. Yes, he was allowed a room, and allowed to build, but not allowed to build with anything that may harm the King. Thus, he was limited to building things that a child might be delighted to see. He knew Amy had entered the room, he didn't mind. Unbeknownst to the King and his followers, Tails had been experimenting with chemistry and virus' given to him by secret rebels. He began to study The Bubonic Plague's Antigen, Alzheimer's breakdown chemicals, Hypothalamic Dysregulation, and Pneumonia.

He was trying to create his own disease, a disease to regenerate dead matter. Regeneration.... isn't it normal among some animals? A Sea Star can regenerate lost limbs, and humans have been known to regenerate small portions of the liver. What about regenerating the clinically dead, those who were in the ground, in a shallow grave, with wounds from a .50 Caliber fully automatic machine gun? But, how would these diseases regenerate the dead?  
The Plague liquidates vital organs, the reason why people died. If reversed, the Plague would regenerate the damaged organs the blue hedgehog had. Alzheimers destroys the brain's cells. How would the chemicals regenerate? If reversed, could the chemical regenerate the dead brain? Hypothalamic Dysregulation is a dysfunction in the brain's Hypothalamus. Reversal of Hypothalamic Dysregulation may very well save the rest of the brain, reinforce it. Pneumonia is the disease in the lungs, creating a liquid. Does the person drown? Sonic's lungs had been filled with blood. Reversal of Pneumonia may turn the antigen into a sponge, sucking up the liquid.

But, the questions remained. He had the sample, the prototype. All he needed was the test subject. How would he sneak a decomposing corpse into the castle? If odor didn't give the act away, sight would!

"What is that one up to?"

The wolf whispered words to himself.

_Keep the fox alive. The fox is nice, the fox is good._

The wolf was Bret. Bret the Wolf. He was looking for the King, but was having trouble with every step he took. Bret wore a black leather jacket, a pair of black saggy jeans with a chain on one leg, and belted around his chest was the dragunov sniper rifle. He had grey fur, and his eyes were pale blue. He decided not to keep going. His wild goose chase yielded no results, so he went home. His home was a mere apartment. In his apartment, a weapon cache that consisted of magazines for a Desert Eagle, and many bullets for the Dragunov. At home, he had a note laying on his coffee table. The note was an invitation to a party at the castle. Eggman was kissing ass to get people on his side. The party was that night. The wolf took off his boots, pants, and jacket. He replaced his clothes with a suit, black pants, and black formal shoes to cover his large feet. Inside of his suit jacket, he hid his Desert Eagle. He had no intentions of entering the party casually. He was intent on smashing one of the windows he had targeted and entering that way, afterward posing as a guest. Why? He feared the King's paranoia. Would he be searched? If Bret was arrested, he believed the world would lose it's only hope. Was Bret egotistical? No. He simply felt that he was the only one trying to find a way to take down the tyrant. That night, he approached the window, and scraped it a few times with a sharp knife he had brought. After he believed he scraped the window an adequate number of times, he took his gun out and smashed the window open with the butt end of the weapon. He hid the gun again, dropped the knife outside, and climbed through the window, hoping that nobody heard the window shatter. He scraped it a little bit to soften the sound. He left through the room, and began to walk toward the rest of the party, happy that nobody seemed to notice his entry. He could see a pink hedgehog in a white dress and high heels. Wait, a pink hedgehog? Didn't he see her? WIthout noticing, he approached the girl. She looked up when he approached, wounds visible on her eyes.

"Uh, hi," said Bret. He was intent on questioning her about the king.

"Hi," she said softly.

"I'm Bret the Wolf. And you are?"

She looked up, feigning interest.

"Amy Rose."

Her normal response to "What's your name" was usually "I'm Amy! Amy Rose!", but with the death of Sonic, she knew not what to do.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing."  
He put his hand on her shoulder, trying to get her to open up. Her eyes rose to look at the wolf.

"What's wrong?"

She sighed.

"Sonic was my friend," she said, eyes closed and brows in such a fashion that she appeared sad.

"What connection did you have to him?"  
She sighed in awe.

"I was his girlfriend."

Bret nodded.

"Why are you here, then?"

She grew angry.

"Why are you asking me these questions? Just leave me be!"

She turned her back and began to walk.

"Wait! Wait!"  
But, she wouldn't stop. Some party guests snickered, seeing the wolf had been rejected by the girl.  
"Hi. I'm sorry about that. She's my friend."

Bret turned to see the young fox from before.

"I'm Miles. Call me Tails, it's my nickname."

Bret nodded.

"I'm Bret the Wolf."

"Bret uhh..."  
Bret was taller than Tails. Tails beckoned Bret to kneel a little, and whispered.

"You should hide that gun a little better," he whispered. Bret jumped, and looked at his chest. The gun's butt end was sticking out, and Bret pushed it down a little further.

Tails whispered some more.

"Come with me," he said. The wolf was hesitant.

_The fox is good. Go with the fox._

Bret nodded, following the fox. They were allowed out of the party rooms, and Tails led the wolf through a few corridors, opening a door and letting him inside. The room's walls were matted with papers holding various equations and formulas; Energy = Mass X the speed of sound, the Pythagorean theorem, the Drake's equation. Many confusing formulas were written, and below the papers on tables lay various jars and beakers filled with strange liquids.

"Bubonic Plague, Hypothalamic Dysregulation, Alzheimers, Pneumonia?" read Bret, with his voice full of confusion.

"Yeah. Let me know something: Do you want to kill Eggman?" asked Tails. Bret stared at the fox silently, waiting for the voice to tell him what to do.

_The fox is good. Tell the fox what you have to do. The King is bad, he wants to run tests on you, and hurt you. The fox wants to help. Tell him._

"I'm here to kill the King. The fox wants to help," said Bret, in a trance. Tails stared into the wolf's blank pale eyes, and nodded. He took a flashlight out, and shone the light in the wolf's eyes.

Eventually, the fox nodded.

"You're schizophrenic, aren't you?" asked Tails.

(A/N: Schizophrenia is a mental disorder in which the victim believes he or she can 'hear voices' in his or her head. The voices tell the victim to do irrational or random acts. Schizophrenia can lead to strange acts, and sometimes random violence.)

Bret looked down at the fox in surprise.

"The voices... you can hear them?"Tails shrugged.

"I couldn't. I looked in your eyes, saw the blank expression, and just guessed."

Bret was amazed.

_Help the fox. Be friends with the fox._

"Friends with the fox..." Bret said out loud and in a slow drawl. Tails nodded.

"Yes, friends. Let me explain everything."  
Tails sat down, inviting Bret to do the same.

"Our friend was killed a few months ago. His name was Sonic the Hedgehog, the enemy of Eggman. Sonic was gunned down and buried in a shallow grave, and after he died, rebellions against King Eggman failed. We gave in, and Eggman forces us to live in his castle so he can watch us and make sure we do nothing to hurt him. He doesn't even know I have all of those..."  
He whispered the next word: "diseases."

"I've been experimenting with them, and reversed the effects. So, now, instead of losing brain functions to Alzheimers, you gain brain functions, instead of drowning in liquid from Pneumonia, it acts like a sponge and sucks any liquids out, instead of organs being liquidated by the Plague, organs are regenerated, and instead of a dysfunctional Hypothalamus, you get a reinforced brain. I'm going away tomorrow to exhume Sonic and try this prototype disease. That's why I want you to help me. I need shovels, and Eggman won't let me have any, because he thinks I'll make some type of trap. Can you please help me with that?"  
_Get the shovels, help the fox. Don't kill the King yet._

Bret nodded.

"Just show me where to go."  
The fox smiled and took an ear piece off a desk, handing it to Bret. Bret brought the object to his pointy ear, and was also handed a small microphone, to clip to his collar.

"Don't kill Eggman yet."

He smiled, took his Desert Eagle out, but Tails stopped him. He attached a silencer to the muzzle of the gun, and Bret began to walk out of the room, knowing why Tails gave him the ear piece and microphone. Sure enough...

"Okay, Bret, go to your left."

Bret obliged. He ran into a few robots, but as he aimed, the robots did not respond.

They were powered down, not in use at that time.

_The robots are not working. Don't waste your bullets._

Bret continued down the hallway.  
"Okay, enter the door with the green lamp above it."  
Again, Bret obliged. He entered the door and gunned down a few robots.

"Do you see any shovels?"

Bret pulled the microphone piece closer.

"I don't."

Tails let out a perplexed sigh.

"Okay, get out of there and go across the hall."

Bret obliged again, this time seeing the room empty of robots but full of shovels. He picked up two shovels and found his way back to Tails, not caught by any camera.  
_Medicine._

Bret eyed the fox, holding out a cup of water and a pill.

"What's this?" asked Bret, laying the shovels against a wall.

"It's medicine for your schizophrenia."

_Don't take the medicine. The fox wants to hurt you._

Bret's eyes grew angry.

"The fox wants to hurt me..."

Tails shook his head 'no'.

"I don't. This medicine is going to help you. It's good for you."  
Voices?  
_..._

Bret reluctantly took the medicine, and shortly after, the voices fell silent.

End of 1

* * *

**This is an obvious change from my usual light and funny stories... or at least I try to make them light and funny. Meh, I'll try to throw in some comic relief here and there. It just takes me forever to right this.**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The voices.... where? Where did they go? Bret had his eyes closed, and felt a poke on his back. He turned instantly. It was the pink hedgehog from the party. She smiled a mournful smile.

"Hi... Bret, was it?"  
Bret nodded.

"I'm Bret the Wolf. You're..."

_..._

The voices could have reminded the wolf. But, not only were the voices suppressed, but Bret's short term memory was, as well. Amy smiled an amused smile this time.

"Amy Rose."

Bret looked away, only nodding. He didn't want to make eye contact with this girl because he couldn't remember her name. Tails intervened.

"Bret here suffers from schizophrenia, Amy."

Amy put a hand to her mouth.

"Really?" she asked, trying not to sound scared. Bret kept his eyes to the ground.

"I just gave him some medicine for the disorder. Bret, we need to get Sonic after dark when or if my disease works."

Bret slipped one of his shoes off and reached inside, taking a cyanide pill out from the side and placing it in his shirt. Tails was looking at Amy. All was quiet for a few moments.

"Should I shoot him yet?" asked Bret.

--

Outtake

--

"No, I have a much more redundant and convoluted plan to kill Eggman."

--

Tails shook his head.

"If you shot him now, the world might go into a riot. We have to gain control over the media before we strike."

"And your friend?"  
Tails smiled.

"Reviving Sonic will make it that much easier-"  
"REVIVING SONIC?!"

Tails jumped, and shushed Amy rudely. She shut her mouth and nodded.

"Yes, Amy. But, understand that this idea is still under experimentation...."  
Amy's joyous expression turned to skepticism.

"Wait, we're going to _cure _death?"  
"MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Doubt it," said Tails.

"Tails?"  
Bret. Tails turned to face his friend, whom was pointing at a dead rat set on the table. Tails had infected the rat with his disease while Bret was looking for the shovels. The rat twitched, and it's eyes opened. The rat stood up, and looked around (in a cage, of course). Tails stumbled over to the rat, examined it, and dashed to get a pad of paper. Bret could do nothing, and he only wondered what happened to the voices that plagued his head.

"Yes... yeah... I got it!"  
Tails wrote down a few formulas, then took a beaker with a solution inside of it.

"Now all we need is our friend, Amy."

Amy squealed with joy. She may see her friend, her Sonic again. Tails knew it, too. So, why did he feel uneasy?

"Now, all we have to do is leave tonight when Eggman is asleep... and return before he wakes up," said Tails.

"And what time does he sleep, and wake?" asked Bret, whom was playing around with his tie. Tails shrugged.

"He gets up at random times, but always gets to sleep at around 12 midnight."

Bret held up his gun.

"It's midnight now. When did the party end?"

Tails looked at an invitation he had found on the floor.

"About two hours ago."

"Then lets go."

The trio snuck quietly out of the castle, happy that Eggman likely drank his BAC to a .58. It appeared he had passed out in his own sick... again.

The next morning, he'd spend all day recovering from his hangover... _again._

And, while he recovered from his hangover, he'd probably boast outrageous remarks, like he 'couldn't tackle the bear'... _AGAIN._

But, after the trio left the room that belonged to Tails, the rat that was once dead began to wheeze while breathing. Afterward, the rat stood again, and began striking it's body against the cage, trying in vain to escape.

All life functions had ceased in the rat, yet it still lived... and it seemed aggressive.

Meanwhile, Amy, Bret, and Tails had snuck to the fields, and began to fasten their paces, since there was no longer a need to be silent.

_Find the dead person._

Bret stopped in his tracks, and soon Amy and Tails turned to eye the wolf.

"Bret?" began Tails.

"Are you okay?" finished Amy.

_You're okay._

Bret, though the voice told him he was okay, knew better. Why would the voice that was around for all of his life suddenly vanish, then reappear again? He shook his head to clear it, but Amy and Tails believed he meant 'no he was not'. The duo approached. Bret, meanwhile, put a hand to his head.

_Do not get rid of me again. You've been bad._

Tails examined Bret, seeing the blank expression dimly lit in his pale eyes.

"Are the voices back?" asked Tails. Bret nodded, very anxious.

"That pill must have worn off. I should've given him a stronger dose."

With that, Amy reached into a purse she had with her and took out the bottle of pills Tails had.

Pyroxycyline, .500 mg.

Tails examined the medicine, then eyed Amy.

"Why did you take that?"

She smiled.

"I figured something like this would happen. How many did you give him before?"

"A half a pill. Give me two of those," said Tails, holding a hand out. Amy did as she was told, and Tails gave the medicine to the dazed Bret, swaying back and forth as if he were on a pivot.

"Take this, and it will go away."

Bret eyed the pills.

_Don't do it again, you're being a bad boy._

But, Bret ignored the voice for one of the first times in his life. He took the pills in his other hand, and popped both into his mouth, and swallowed.

"Give it about 5 minutes, okay?"

Bret nodded.

"Thank you," he said. Tails smiled.

"The pills should last you the rest of the night."

Bret nodded his head once to show he understood, and the trio continued walking. Shortly after, Bret eyed a building... an old, broken down mansion. He gasped, grabbing the attention of Amy and Tails. Because he was mentally ill, Tails and Amy had to watch him, as if he were a child and they his parents.

"Bret, are you okay?" asked Amy. He pointed to the mansion.

"That... that home... I was... I was raised there. It was an orphanage when I was a pup."  
Tails turned to face the wolf, as did Amy.  
"What about your parents?" asked Tails.

"My mother and father abandoned me when I was a very young pup. I started hearing those... voices when I turned 5. Nobody spoke to me."

The trio had continued walking, and Bret felt memories rushing back to him.

"Why didn't anyone speak to you?" asked Amy, though she thought she knew the answer.

"Because of the voices. Everybody believed that my disease was contagious, that they could 'catch' the voices... I never had a friend."

"You've never had a friend?"

Bret sighed, and shook his head 'no'.

"It's... it's weird, being alone for all of my 14 years."

Amy turned her head partially.

"If only I could know what you mean... but I've never been alone before. I've always had Tails, and... Sonic..." she said, breaking down into a sob. The trio continued walking, and soon after, a rusty metal pole was found protruding from the ground. Tails looked up, and eyed the pole. Amy had stopped crying, and the three surrounded the pole. Bret pulled it out of the ground, and started shoveling the ground before him. He paused, and looked at Tails and Amy, looking uncertainly at their shovels.

"Start digging," said Bret, before dug his shovel into the dirt before him. After several minutes, a light odor filled the air, and the white of a bone became visible to the group. The group dug more, and the hedgehog had seen the light of day for the first time in four months.

End of 2

* * *

**Next chapter is going to probably be short, and just for comic relief. Review or I'll send my schizophrenic OC after you, and trust me, you won't want that.**

**Oh, and I promise I'm not trying to make light of schizophrenia. I wouldn't do that for any disease.**


	4. LET THE HANGOVER BEGIN!

Chapter 3

Let The Hangover Begin!

*BEEP* *BEEP*  
It's 5:25 in the ante meridiem, and also time for the King to drag his drunken ass out of bed.

"Uhh........"

He slams his fist onto his night stand with a thud, but misses the clock entirely and instead succeeds in destroying his fourth pair of sunglasses that week.

"Damn it!" He yells with a shriek, followed by his hands quickly reaching to massage his aching temples.

"Ahh... shhh...shhh...too loud...too loud!"

The king drags himself out of bed and changes, placing his crown on his head, and leaving the room. He miserably trudges down the stairs to his throne, where food is waiting for him, but his nausea keeps him from even considering shoving the egg, codfish, and banana jello into his mouth. He chucks the tray off of his throne, and a servant pokes her head in the room.

"Should I clean that up, your _lowness_?" asked the bat, with more than a trace of irritation in her voice.

"Not so loud! Hangover...." groaned the king, carrying on like the 9 year old he really was. Rouge (the maid... HAH!) grumbles something to herself, and begins to pick up the food from the floor.

"Rouge, I'd appreciate you to get me some aspirin and a heat pack for my head."

Rouge nods, picking up the debris that was once food, and heads into the kitchen. She returns a few moments later with a pack and an aspirin, which Eggman downs quickly. Placing the pack on his head, he gasps and groans, dropping the pack from his head.

"I said HEAT PACK! NOT ICE PACK!"

Rouge snickers, and looks at the irritated man.

"I know."

Eggman growls, but his anger quickly melts away.

"Have Amy and Tails been up yet?"

Rouge shook her head.

"They were up later than you. I'd give them more time to sleep. "

The king grumbles, the aspirin barely taking the edge off of his headache.

"Let me know when they wake up, okay?"

"Sure thing, your..."  
"Lowness, I know, I know... stupid bat."

Rouge looks up, and grins an evil grin. She opens her mouth, and begins to echo locate. The high pitch squeal is more than enough to bring the King's headache back tenfold. He covers his ears, but fails to keep the sound out. Finally, Rouge shows mercy, and stops.  
"Are you ready to apologize for that?"  
Eggman nods frantically.

"I'm sorry!"

Rouge smiles, and finishes cleaning up the mess the king made out of the food.

"You are very lucky, Rouge. I can't hang a bat, and nobody seems to be able to kill you," said Eggman as the bat leaves.

Rouge turns her head partially, lets out another screech, and leaves Eggman in more pain that he began with.

End of 3

(A/N: Obviously, this was all just me making a funny. I can't make comic relief a very long chapter, I guess. Chapter 4 should be back on track, and from here on in, Chapter names might be used.)

Also, I forgot one thing. Ante merediem means AM.


	5. Dr Tailsenstein

Chapter 4

Dr. Tailsenstein

**(A/N: I'm about to go really far into detail about a corpse. If you don't want to read about what a decomposing body looks like, I advise you to continue down until you see another author's note in bold.)**

The hedgehog did not look as bad as the group originally thought. The fur had long since rotted, of course, and bone was visible through the dehydrated and odorous skin. The hedgehog's wounds were clearly visible, the muzzle of the hedgehog had decomposed, where the teeth were easily visible resting in the mouth. The once brilliant blue fur of the 'hog was now grey, and turning into a puddle of muck in the cavity that was the hedgehog's grave. In a sense, Sonic was melting, his bones remaining. His gloves had vanished, probably in the muck that was old flesh and fur. The cleanest part of the hedgehog was his shoes, sporting large holes in some spots, but still their red color with white stripes. The only dirt on the shoes was dirt from the grave.

**(A/N: Okay, those of you who didn't read that, you can start now.)**

The wind changed course unexpectedly with the early morning, and the odor struck the group like a wave. Amy stumbled away from the body and began to vomit, Tails soon joined, and Bret simply held his nose. When Tails and Amy returned, Tails took out a black plastic bag from a backpack he was carrying.

"We have to get him... into this bag," said Tails, gagging again at the smell.

(A/N: I actually gagged while writing that description. Last thing to make me gag was when my Marine Studies class opened up a dead shark... no, strike that: several dead sharks.)  
Amy shook her head.

"No! I can't... I just... I'm sorry, but I just can't touch him..." she said, her body groaning and letting out a belch to tell her that peristalsis was reversing itself again. She stumbled back to a bush, and began to vomit again.

Bret nodded, understanding why she refused to help. Tails and Bret began to work on taking the hedgehog out of his hole. Tails began to dry heave, and Bret was mumbling, eyes shut tight.

"I'm in the tropics, everything's good, everything's well, we're not taking a rotting corpse out of a hole...."

"Okay.. *hic*... drop him!" wheezed Tails, dropping the legs into the bag. Bret couldn't drop the torso faster. Afterward, Bret closed up the bag, and hoped to everything that the body did not come apart during the trip back. Tying up the bag, Bret began to drag it along, the smell vanishing in a blessing: the wind had shifted once more. The trio began to half walk, half struggle back to the castle. At 6:15, the trio made it back to the castle. It was lucky that the King suffered a massive hangover. The group, shovels, and the body all easily made it into the castle through the security. Because of a recent assassination attempt, the King had all guards surrounding the room he was in, and stupidly did not leave a single guard to watch the entrances. The body was dragged to Tails' room, and the fox decided to check on the rat one more time.

It had long since given up on trying to get out of the cage, instead just observing the people that now intruded it's room. How desperately did it want to attack the intruders! How much did it want to commit acts of violence, how much did it want to... how much did it want to infect the intruders with the disease?

Showing signs of primitive intelligence, the rat stayed put, feigning curiosity to mask it's dark intentions. The fox picked up the cage, but even then the rat remained still.

"Okay, little guy! You're free to go."

The fox began to approach a window, and the wolf took two steps forward.

"Uh, Tails? I don't think we should let it go..."

_Shut up, wolf, _thought the rat, remaining stoic.

"I can't keep him, and besides, he's fine, see?"

Tails held the rat's cage out to Bret, and the wolf leaned back instinctively. He shook his head, wondering why this smart fox could make such an irrational move.

"I don't think we should let it go," repeated the wolf, seeing the hollowness in the small animal's eyes. Tails shook his head. "Why don't you think so?" asked Tails. Bret pointed at it.

"I just don't think it's a good idea."

Tails looked uncertainly at the wolf, then back at the rat.

"I won't let it go..."  
_Phew, _thought the wolf.

_Goddamn wolf, _thought the rat.

"...But I need you to take it, then! I can't let Eggman see this thing in my room!"Bret eyed the fox curiously. "You mean you can't let the King see the rat, but it's okay to have a dead body in here?"

Tails chuckled. "I can hide Sonic pretty well. Please, Bret? Take him home? You can do with him what you will."

Bret nodded, holding his arms out to carry the cage.

"I'll start preparing the disease for Sonic in about an hour. You go home, rest, eat, and on top of it all, take a shower! That's my current goal!"

Bret nodded, taking the cage and placing it on the window sill.

"Wait!"

Poised to leap out of the window, Bret froze, waiting for what the fox wanted. He placed a bottle of pills next to the cage.

"Take two of those when the original medicine wears off."

Bret nodded, still not quite able to understand how two small pills could defeat the voices in his head. He pocketed the medicine, and leaped out of the window with the cage, walking home. His apartment was about a 10 minute jog from the Castle. He walked home, every so often eyeing the rat that now leered at him. He opened his door 10 minutes later, and looked at the time.

6:40. He departed the castle at 6:27. Tails said he'd start the next batch of disease an hour from when they returned (6:15). Shrugging, Bret placed the rat on a coffee table in his home, and took his muddy and smelly suit jacket off and threw it over the rat's cage (of course not forgetting to remove the bottle of pills, first). He walked into his small bathroom, and turned on his shower, undressed, and washed.

The time was now 6:57, and Bret got out of the shower, dressed in clean clothes, and threw his old clothes into a bag, throwing the gross items in the trash. When he returned, the time was 7:01. Bret entered his home again, and cautiously opened the cage of the rat.

Now was it's chance! Now it could attack! It could eat! It could infect. The rat leaped out of it's cage, but Bret seemed to anticipate the 'attack'. He stepped out of the way, and turned to face the rat.

Although it lacked the ability to do so, the rat appeared to be _growling..._ It leaped at Bret, and landed on the wolf's chest. As it tried to sink it's teeth into the wolf's clothing, he grabbed it, and it bit his finger.

"Ah!" growled Bret, seeing that the demonic creature failed to break the skin. He tossed the rat to a wall, and it still got up and walked toward the wolf. Again, it leaped at the wolf, landing on his face and causing a struggle that would knock over a lamp. The wolf stumbled backwards onto his coffee table, where the rat finally lost it's grip and fell off of it's target. Bret wasn't through. His Desert Eagle had been set on the table, and fell next to him. He grabbed it as the rat ran forward, and fired. His bullet collided with the rat in midair, and it fell to the ground with a soft 'thud'. It lay on it's back, twitching and squeaking in pain, but still lunging it's head at the wolf, as if it still wanted a meal. Bret, now standing, eyed the rat, picking it up and taking it to the side of the building. Outside, he stepped on the animal, stopping it's heart for the second time. The wolf got out of the ordeal with a few scratches from falling over his table, but other than that, he was okay. Panting, he suddenly realized with a jolt what caused the attack: The disease. The artificial disease that cured death. He looked at his watch.

7:10.

"An hour after we returned... we returned at 6:15, he'd work on the second batch at 7:15, give or take a few minutes, and waste no time reviving his friend! No!!!" Bret yelled to himself, turning and beginning to run to the Castle. He had to stop Tails!

--

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

The fox had finished his shower, and was drying off. He knew how easy it would be to create the artificial 'cure' again; all he had to do was mix the diseases together, and wait a minute, then inject his friend into the skull cavity, and into all the wounds he had received. Smiling, he began to mix the syrups of antigens.

The time was now 7:12.

--

_C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! I gotta get there! Hurry! _Bret yelled to himself mentally. The castle was visible on the horizon as the wolf ran through the woods, doing whatever it was his instinct told him to in order to stop the disease.

The time was now 7:15.

--

"Now, we wait for one minute. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6..."

--

_Almost there! _

"11, 12, 13, 14..."

--

The wolf ran, but tripped over a branch, and fell to the ground, rolling through the leaves.

_No! No!!_

"38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43..."

--

Tails stared at the clock, and patiently looked back at the science experiment he had laying in front of him.

"47, 48, 49, 50..."

--

Bret quickly scrambled to his feet, and began to run, sprinting again, seeing the Castle rushing closer and closer.

"57, 58, 59..."

--

"60!" Tails counted, and quickly filled a syringe with the disease. He put on a hospital mask to avoid the odor, and opened the plastic bag that held the hedgehog's body. The injection was sent through the hedgehog's eye to the brain. Once that was finished, Tails took another syringe and injected the disease into all of the bullet wounds.

(If you are wondering about the bullets, bullets have a tendency of moving in the body. When Sonic began to decompose, the bullets either fell out, or they moved around as the gas began to escape. So, the bullets were not in the way.)

--

The window! Yes!

Bret ran a final sprint, until he had to slow down so he didn't smash into the side of the castle (although that would be pretty funny). He pulled himself up to peek in the now shut window, and gasped in horror.

He was too late, the fox was already finishing up with his friend. He knocked on the window loudly, getting the fox's attention. The fox smiled politely and opened the window for the wolf.

"I did it!" exclaimed Tails as the body of Sonic slowly began to materialize with newish fur and skin again, although most of the bone was still visible. The body slowly started moving about again, and Bret frowned, horrified.

The hedgehog was... coming back.

"Muh, guh.... *cough*"

The 'body' was no longer a body. It was alive once again... kind of. More skin formed on the hedgehog, but bone stayed very visible.

"Guh....."

"I... I..." stuttered Tails, but Bret finished.

"You've doomed us all."

End of 4

(A/N: Peristalsis is what makes food go down the swallowy tube (esophagus). It's a muscle that constantly pushes downward. But, when the vomit signal is given by the brain, peristalsis reverses itself. If food doesn't go down, then there's only one place left for it to go: the floor in front of you.)


	6. Revival

Chapter 5

Revival

"T....Ta....Tails....."

The hedgehog's first word since revival.  
A screech.

"SONIC!!!!"

It was Amy, barely able to contain herself from wrapping the undead 'hog up in a huge bear hug. She was lucky not to have squeezed his second life away.

"A...Amy....." the hedgehog wheezed. Tails approached, but Bret remained back. "Hey, Sonic..." said Tails.

"Tails... I was... I..." said Sonic, now learning how to speak again. What was that he felt? Anger? At Tails, Amy? The canine in the background? Why was he mad at all of these people?

"Sonic, Eggman's..."  
A gun cocked. The fox, hedgehog, and Amy all turned to face the sound. Bret was holding his Desert Eagle toward the hedgehog.

"Bret?" asked Tails, in more confusion than panic.

"What are you doing?" asked Amy.

"Who are you?" Sonic wheezed.

"I'm Bret. And you're going to attack us in a few minutes."

"Whuh...." said Sonic, groaning. Amy, meanwhile, had approached, her hammer held high in the air.

"Bret, put the gun down now!" she commanded.

_Amy.... you bitch.... you should die.... _thought Sonic. His brow finally formed into anger.

_Tails, you're just as bad.... damn you all... _

The hedgehog stood on it's rotten feet and leaped at Amy. She shrieked as he held her arms to the sides and slammed her against the wall. She couldn't move.

"Sonic... what are... you doing?" she strained, trying in vain to escape. Sonic grinned an evil and rotten grin. He let out a roar, and bit Amy's neck. The meat and blood felt excellent in his mouth.

A deafening gunshot cut through the air like a hot knife through butter, and Sonic's teeth quickly left Amy's fur and skin. The bullet landed in his lower back, and he turned and leered at the wolf.

_You interrupted my meal, wolf..._

The hedgehog ran toward the wolf at a high speed, and tackled the wolf to the floor. The wolf held the hedgehog's face away from his throat.

"I don't get it, what's happening?" yelled Amy through the hedgehog's roars. She held her bleeding neck.

"The rat that I took home attacked me when I tried to let it go! It tried to bite me the same way! I think your friend is trying to infect other people."  
Bret quickly brought his left hand down into the hedgehog's neck and squeezed, doing anything to keep it at bay. The idea worked, as the hedgehog shrieked and quickly released it's target, surrendering.

_Alright, you'll live a while longer, wolf. But I'm HUNGRY!_

The hedgehog growled and tried to attack the fox, but the threat of the wolf was ever present. It lept out of the way and out of the window. It's roars echoed as it faded away. It was obviously trying to find a new meal. An easier meal.

"What was that sound?" a faint voice echoed through the halls. Tails frantically hid the syringes, "medicine" and all of his secret experiments, along with the black body bag in a closet.

"Bret, you have to hide!" said Amy, shooing him toward the window with one hand, her other hand clutching her wound. Bret looked toward the window, then back at the door. He could kill the king right now... but what good would that do? As much as he hated to admit it, it wasn't the King's fault that an epidemic was imminent. He gritted his teeth.

It was their fault that an illness was about to spread to the world. He looked at Amy. Her wound would give a lot away. He grabbed her and leapt from the window, holding a hand over her mouth while he did so.

The King entered the door just as the wolf disappeared over the windowsill.

"Tails. I heard shouting in here."

"Hi, Eggman," Tails began. Eggman shook a finger in front of the fox.

"You mean, 'Hello, your highness'," he taunted.

"Don't push it," warned Tails. Eggman sighed and looked at the window.

"I heard shouting in here. Where's Amy? She isn't in her room."

Tails shook his head.

"Maybe she went to see Sonic. You know, our friend that you killed?"

The king did not respond, and left the room. He paused in the doorway, placed his hand against the wall, and bowed his head.

"...I didn't expect him to stop running."

Without saying another word, the King left the room. Tails smiled, happy to see that he was able to get the King out of his room without answering his original question. He just hoped that Eggman wouldn't realize his question wasn't answered for a while.

The door shut, and Bret climbed in the window, Amy following.

"I think you should clean Amy's wound," said Bret. "She's infected."

Tails began to head to a medicine cabinet, but stopped.

"The disease I created is non communicable."

Bret eyed the fox, irritated.

"Just do it, please?"

The fox nodded, and turned to his cabinet again. He took out a bottle of iodine. Tails took the black bottle to Amy, and began to unscrew the top.

"It's going to hurt, Amy," warned Tails. "I don't care, just clean it, please!" begged Amy. Tails nodded, and poured the bitter fluid into the wounds. Instantly, pain shot through the wound. She let out a loud yelp, and Tails began to walk back to the cabinet. He came back again, this time with a rag.

"I'll put some pressure on your wound," said Tails. He placed the rag on her shoulder and pushed down. As soon as he began to push down, pain began to ensue. Her eyes watered with the pain. It took the girl six and a half minutes to clot, and Bret took the now blood soaked rag to a sink. Tails began to unroll some stitch wire, and tied it to a needle. Amy flinched.

"Tails, I study surgery and operations in my spare time. Let me stitch her up," said Bret. Tails turned to the wolf, obviously surprised.

"Really?"

Bret shook his head.

"Uh, no. I just like to lie about medical stuff," replied Bret. Tails frowned at the sarcasm, and sighed.

"Okay, just do it if you can," he said. Bret took the wire and needle, and approached Amy, eyes shut tight with fear. He gingerly placed his hand on Amy's wound, feeling for the appropriate place to start. He spotted a place, and very gently pierced her skin with the needle. He had finished the stitching so gently that Amy had barely noticed he began.

(A/N: I once had to get a blood test, and the doctor I had got the needle in my skin so gently, I didn't even notice when she started and finished.)

"And you're all set," set Bret in a softer voice to keep the girl comfortable. She opened one eye.

"You... you did it?" asked Amy, not quite able to believe that he had stitched her up. Bret nodded, smiling. Bret turned to Tails.

"I need a roll of medical tape." Tails was still in shock that the wolf with schizophrenia was able to fix his friend better than he. He shook off his surprise and turned to the cabinet, took out a roll of medical tape, and handed it to Bret. He began to dress her wound.

"Thank you," said Amy as he bit the tape until it broke. He finished dressing the wound and smiled, then looked at his watch.

7:28.

"We have to find your friend, and I think we have to kill him again. He's become too aggressive."

At his words, the fox and the hedgehog bowed their heads in sadness. Bret understood the pain. "Maybe you can try again once we take him down? Make a new cure, or find the disease that made him aggressive in the first place?" he suggested. Tails picked his head up.

"I can run some tests, I suppose. You go home, or stay if you like."

Bret looked at the window to the rising sun. The sunrise was red.

"It's going to storm. I should go home before the clouds roll in."  
"Good idea, you should sleep, too," said Amy, smiling at the wolf. He let out a yawn as if to prove her point, and looked out the window once more.  
"I'm headed home. I need to rest..."  
_Don't forget the king, _he mentally reminded himself.

"I need to kill the king."

The fox turned his head to look at the wolf.

"I told you, if we kill him now, the world will be a ship with a broken rudder."  
Bret turned away from the window and stared the fox in the eyes.

"Then we'll just have to repair that rudder. One of us will take the King's place... someone who can't succumb to power."  
Bret looked at the two, then at his reflection in a nearby mirror.

"I can't do it because of the voices, and you can't do it because you need to figure out a new disease for your friend, Tails. That leaves Amy."

Amy jolted in surprise.

"Me?!"

Bret nodded, smiling.

"I.... I'm going to be...."

Bret bowed to Amy.

"You're going to be Princess Amy..." he began, eyes shut.

"I'm going to kill him."

"When?" asked Tails. Bret turned his gaze to the fox.

"Tomorrow."

End of 5

(A/N: Also, I'll tell you how Bret knows it is going to be stormy. A rhyme. It goes like this: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight; Red sky in the morning, and sailors take warning." Bret was familiar with the rhyme, I guess...)


	7. Dreams

Chapter 6  
Dreams

Bret walked home, guarding himself all the way. Bret lived in the suburbs, and he could hear faint sirens wailing and people screaming in the city itself. He knew what the screams meant, but even then he remained calm, and walked into his apartment. The first thing he did was lock his door, then he boarded his windows and pulled the blinds.  
Nothing was coming into that house other than he. Panting, he looked at his watch after he finished securing the house.

8:32.

Sighing, Bret walked into his kitchen and fixed himself breakfast: Steak and eggs. He began to dig into his breakfast, and started to think.

_Should I have done something about that screaming?_

He ate a little more of his breakfast (mostly the steak) and simply stared straight ahead.

_Do I kill the King and then do something about the screaming?_

He smiled, amused at a joke he thought of.

_I should do something about that screaming. It's giving me a headache._

Sighing, he finished his breakfast, and placed the plate in his sink. He got up and walked into his bed room, and looked at his watch once again.

8:57 AM. He smiled. "In other words, it's time for bed," he said to himself, doing whatever he could to take his mind off of what he was going to do in less than 24 hours. He kicked off his shoes and lay on his bed, placing his medicine on a night stand. His windows were boarded, doors were locked, and he was sealed off from the rest of the world. In other words, he was safe... somewhat. He started to wonder about how Tails and Amy would remain safe. He was not worried about Amy; her window was still in tact. He did feel bad about destroying Tails' window.

_Tails is a big boy, he can take care of himself, _thought Bret.

Despite the distant screams, Bret managed to fall asleep.

It was 9:01.

Bret dreamt of a war zone. He was in a plain that looked as if it used to be a forest. Stumps were dotted on into the horizon, and three trenches were dug into the ground. Bret turned away from the plains, and looked at the trenches. One was about a yard from the wolf, another was about 20 meters from the first, and a final was a few yards away from...

Bret let out a loud gasp.

"The castle!" he said, taking a step back. Distant gunshots were heard, and Bret turned to see an army approaching. The army was a loyalist army, consisting of people who were loyal to the corrupt King. The bullets fired were random, and although some bullets hit Bret himself, they harmlessly passed through his body. He turned back to the trenches and could see... He let out another gasp.

The people in the trench closest to he were Amy, Tails, and Bret...? Bret was... he was curious. Bret was standing in front of a trench, and he was in the trench, too? He looked at the second trench. An army of... average citizens, it appeared. The citizens were in the third trench, too, all carrying primitive and non lethal weapons such as the bayonet rifle and flash-bang grenades. Bret, being the skilled marksman he was, could see that the 'bullets' fired out of the bayonets were really pieces of glass and rocks, and only the front line was making any progress... but only three people were in the front line. The loyalist army, meanwhile, had superior weaponry, such as mortar rounds and BAR machine guns.

The trench Bret was firing his dragunov sniper rifle, exhausted shells coming to rest around his feet as he took cover in the trench. Several explosions rung out, each coming closer and closer to the first trench. Looking at the second and third trenches, both the wolf in the trench and the real Bret could see the 'army' getting mowed down, as some attempted to jump the trenches, and as others were sent flying into the air with explosions, being completely blown apart in the process.

"Did you honestly believe you could defeat me?" asked a voice over a megaphone. Both Brets looked up. It was Eggman. Trench Bret readied his dragunov, but he found he was out of ammunition for the rifle. The firing line was closing in now, less than 20 meters from the first trench. King Eggman was standing in front of the army, laughing into his megaphone.

"You had no chance! Your futile attempts to kill me, your attempts to revive Sonic, everything you've done has only delayed the inevitable! Now then, I demand the wolf! Send up the wolf!" commanded the King. The spectating Bret understood that the King was beckoning the Bret in the trench. A mortar round shot off and landed near the front trench, sending dirt up into the sky. The trio had ducked into the trench, avoiding any damage from the round. Trench Bret drew his Desert Eagle.

"You want me, tyrant?" he called, and leapt over the trench.

"Here I am!" he called. A bullet dug it's way into the other Bret's waist, and he recoiled, looking at the wound, then growling, and continuing forward. He fired his Desert Eagle's rounds, striking the King down then and there. Immediately after the King fell backward, the loyalist army opened fire. Rounds struck the fake Bret in the torso and legs. One final bullet dug itself into the wolf's forehead. He fell backwards into the trench and came to rest in his pile of exhausted ammunition, desert eagle still in his hand. His wounds bleeding profusely, the last thing the fake Bret saw was the face of the horrified princess. His pale blue eyes shut halfway, and he exhaled his final breath.

--

"AHH!"

Bret woke with a start. He looked around, and could see the night sky. He panted, panicked from what he saw in his dream.

"I'm just... I'm just nervous...." he tried to reassure himself, but the images he saw burned into his mind. Regaining his composure, the wolf looked at his watch.

"2:32 AM?!" he read, almost unable to believe he had slept for so long. Then again, it was the first time in about 2 days that he had slept. Sighing, Bret got out of his bed, and walked into his living room, where his two guns rested.

He picked up his desert eagle, loaded it, and placed it on the table. Then, he picked up his dragunov, loaded a bullet, and placed it on the floor.

"7 AM. That's when you die, tyrant."

Bret turned away, and walked back into his room, to get a little more sleep.

To his horror, the time was different, but the dream remained the same.

End of 6

(A/N: When I said "non lethal weaponry", I was not implying that a bayonet is non lethal. The fact that the army was shooting with glass and rocks made the weapon fairly non lethal, especially at a distance.)


	8. Failure

Chapter 7

Failure

(A/N: Hey! Like my grades!)

BEEPBEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Bret jolted, and immediately shut off his alarm clock. It was 6:30. Bret picked up his bottle of pills and walked into his living room. He picked up his guns, and began to head for his door.

"It's time," he said, and he walked outside, taking note that the screaming had ceased.

_Kill the king. The king is bad, the king wants to hurt you. _

The wolf instinctively brought a hand to his head. The voices had returned. Bret grew angry.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He yelled, startling birds that had nested in a nearby tree. He looked around, then started to walk in the direction of a hill. The hill was adjacent to the castle. All Bret had to do was lay in a prone position on the hill, wait for the king to pass by a window, and pull the trigger...

What the King didn't know was the unknown assassin that nearly killed him months prior was about to try again.

_If only I hadn't sneezed, _Bret mentally reminded himself. During the King's 'self appointment' to the throne, Bret had been waiting on the top of the same hill. He had the King's heart in his sniper scope, and as he tried to pull the trigger... he couldn't stop it. It started as a twitch... then a need. He let out a tremendous sneeze, and during the sneeze his finger accidently tightened on the trigger as the gun jumped. The bullet exited the barrel of the gun with a thunderous explosion. The bullet buried itself in the wall about 2 feet above the King's head. Eggman had collapsed to the ground, for fear of his life, but Bret knew better than to try again. He picked up his dragunov and ran away, leaving but one clue behind:  
A bullet casing.

--

6:57 AM. Bret was in his prone position with his sniper rifle in place.

"I won't sneeze this time..." he promised himself.

_Ready your weapon, wolf. _

Instead of readying his weapon, Bret took the bottle of pills out of his pocket and popped two into his mouth. He placed the bottle into a pocket again and readied the weapon. The King passed in front of his window, and Bret got ready, his finger tightened on the trigger, and...

"RAAAGGH!"  
Bret turned his head and released the trigger. The next thing he knew, the dragunov was on the ground and Bret was rolling to the side. He lay on his back and looked up at a bloody creature. The muzzle of this creature was all but torn off, leaving only the bloody mouth. The monster's dred locks were leaking blood and gray matter. It roared another roar at it's meal, and Bret brought his hands up, holding the evil monster's head away. He got an idea. Switching his left hand to behind the monster's skull, he quickly and easily snapped the monster's neck. It fell limp on his body, and Bret pushed it off. He got up and looked at the assailant. His eyes turned to shock.

"Impossible... there are no echidnas left in the world... right?" he asked nobody. The creature was an echidna, red, and based on how many wounds the creature had, Bret could only assume one thing.

"The disease has something to do with this..." he mumbled. Turning back to the window, he could see that the King was no longer in view. Bret knew he couldn't waste any more time. He picked up his dragunov and ran.

Time to see Tails. When Bret approached Tails' window, however, he saw the glass was fixed. Bret gulped.

"I sure hope he came up with an excuse about why that window was broken in the first place..." he said.

"He did." Bret turned and held up his dragunov, but lowered it when he saw Amy, her hands in the air.

"Bret?" she asked, slightly panicked. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry... I... gah...." he tried to begin, but he couldn't bring himself about to say he couldn't kill the King. Amy tilted her head curiously.

"You what?" she asked.

"What about Tails? What did he say?" asked Bret, trying to change the subject.  
"He said he threw a toy he created at the window because he was frustrated. Eggman fell for it like a rock. Now, what did you do?" she asked. Bret silently cursed himself. She was certainly smarter than he thought.

"You mean, what _didn't_ I do..." he said, still rubbing the back of his head and refusing to make eye contact with Amy.

"What didn't you do, then?" She asked, patient.

"I... I couldn't kill him. I failed," he said, eyes closed and expecting Amy to yell at him for failing. Instead, he felt himself become embraced. Opening his eyes, he could see that Amy was holding him.

"That's okay, don't beat yourself up," she said. Bret became confused.

"You're not mad at me? You aren't going to yell?" he asked, becoming irritated that he couldn't understand, but holding back his irritation fairly easily.

"Of course not, why would I be mad?" she asked, releasing her friend from the hug.

Bret still refused to look Amy in the eyes. "I'm sick..." said Bret, the medicine stopping the voices and making him feel sicker than he really was.

"Yes, you are sick... but there are plenty of people who are sick and make accomplishments. Eggman's sick, and he managed to become the King," she said. Bret continued to stare away, still thinking about how his first failure was understandable, but the second was laughable. Amy took her hand from Bret's shoulder and stood next to him, patting his back and trying to cheer him up.

"What happened to make you decide not to kill him?"

Bret looked up from the ground for the first time in several minutes.

"I.... uhh... I..." he cleared his throat. "An echidna attacked me." Amy froze. "What did it look like?!" she asked, obviously nervous.

"He was a red echidna, and he was probably attacked by your friend..."  
Almost immediately, Amy began to cry. Bret was unsure of what to do, so he mimicked what she had done for him. He placed his hand on her back and began to pat.

_I sure hope this is appropriate... _thought Bret. He had no friends and never understood basic social attributes. His action worked, because rather than Amy turning and walking away, she wrapped her friend in another hug, this time to do something, _anything _do get the world off of her shoulders. Bret returned the hug, mimicking her some more and hoping that she wouldn't notice. Apparently, she was too caught up in what she was doing (crying) to notice something so nonsensical. She held him for several more seconds before finally calming down a bit.

"...the red echidna's name... was Knuckles...." she sobbed. "...He was our friend...."

Bret nodded, still holding the girl for her comfort.

"Maybe Tails will work on that new disease... and bring your friend back?" he said. Amy sniffled, and nodded. She released her friend and rubbed her eyes. She tried to stop crying, seeing that Bret was trying his best to stop Amy's crying... and 'his best' wasn't very good.

"C'mon, stop crying."

Finally, Amy's tears stopped, and she turned to Tails' window.

"Let's go talk to him," she whispered. Bret nodded.  
A scream and a roar was heard in the distance.

Amy knocked on the window, and after a few seconds, Tails opened it.  
"Hi, Bret. Hi, Amy. Come in," he greeted. The hedgehog and the wolf climbed through the window one by one. Tails could tell something was wrong, because Bret's shoulders were slumped, his eyes bore the look of pure terror, and Amy's eyes were glassy, her breathing labored as if she had been crying.

"What happened?" asked Tails, although he really didn't want to know.

"I wasn't able to kill the king."

Tails nodded. "It's okay, don't worry about it. Is that why Amy's upset?"

Bret shook his head.

"The reason I failed to kill the king was because I was attacked by a red echidna... he was infected by your disease."  
Tails did not cry when he heard the news; he already knew who the echidna was. His eyes began to tear, and he shook, but he turned away.

"Did he hurt you?"

"He scared the shit out of me, but didn't hurt me. You should investigate which of the diseases made these people aggressive. I can already knock out Pneumonia and Alzheimer's; those diseases are non communicable. Alzheimers wouldn't work because of how long it takes to actually take functions. I've never heard of a contagious case of Hypothalamic Dysregulation, but try it anyway, along with the plague."  
Tails only nodded, still not facing Amy or Bret.

"But how do I get the same effect again?" asked Tails. Bret turned away and looked out the window.

"I'll have to get you something... maybe another rat."

"Well, well, well. What have we here?"

Amy gasped, Bret turned and held up his dragunov.

The bat. She seemed unafraid of the wolf. "What's your name, hun?" asked the bat.

"The name's Bret. Who am I speaking to?"

The bat smiled, a clever, sly smile.

"I'm Rouge. Rouge the bat. What's this disease I hear about?" she said, still smirking. Bret continued to hold up his dragunov, and Rouge continued to be unafraid.

"Rouge, you don't like serving Eggman, do you?" asked Tails. The mention of the king's name was enough to wipe the smirk off of Rouge's face.

"Like it? I hate it. He's got me wearing a collar, like I'm a dog! And one thing's for sure, I'm definitely not you, wolf boy."

Bret was unmoved by the insult.

"Wolf boy? Oh, I haven't heard that one before," he said sarcastically.

"If there's one thing I want to do, it's get rid of him. Or at least have him send me on a mission to find some jewelry."

Tails smiled, beckoning Rouge to enter the room. Bret reluctantly lowered his weapon, and Tails explained everything that happened over the past day and a half. With each passing second, Rouge's interest increased more and more.

"I see... and Billy here is responsible for the loss of Knucky?" she said, smiling. She was certain that the echidna would be fine, and she knew better than to let a death get in her way. Bret, however, only groaned.

"Billy?" he asked. Rouge nodded.

"Would you rather 'Schizy'?" she asked, smiling her sly smile. Bret began to growl a low growl, leering at the girl.

"Oh, I'm so scared. He might bite me." Rouge taunted. Bret's growl grew intense, and it took him a lot to keep from attacking her.

"I know how to kill a person with my thumb," he warned.  
"I know how to kill a person in 20 different ways," replied Rouge. Bret and the bat were nose to nose, leering at each other.

"Alright, that's enough you two!" said Amy, pushing Bret away from Rouge as Tails only watched, smiling sheepishly.

Bret turned away from the bat and put away his Desert Eagle.

"We're going to need those test subjects, I guess. I'll go get you two or three rats."

Bret turned to leave, but before he did, he turned back to Rouge.

"You mentioned jewels before," he commented. Rouge's eyes lit up.

"I love them more than I love myself!" Bret scoffed.

"And you love yourself a lot. I didn't think anything could top that."

She frowned. "What's your point?"

Bret turned back to the window.

"Ever hear of the chaos emeralds?"

End of 7

(A/N: I figured that if I made Bret and Rouge get along, I'd be passing up a chance for a little comic relief in future chapters. Rouge calls Bret different nicknames because that's what she did to Knuckles... right? I figured why not Bret, too?)


	9. Shadow the Double Agent Hog

Chapter 8

Shadow the Double Agent-Hog

(A/N: Okay, I'm sorry. If you read Bk 10, you could see corny chapter names like "Lone Wolf Altair" and "Saving Private Altair". I tried that again... and it obviously didn't work today. *Runs away crying*)

"I know all about the chaos emeralds! I'm a jewel thief," Rouge said, tears watering in her eyes, enjoying memories.

"Do you want one?" asked Bret. Rouge jumped.

"I do! I really do!"

Bret smirked.

"Then go find one. Tails, you need to get cracking on the new disease. Rouge, if you're a jewel thief, then you need to help me find all of them."

Rouge frowned, and pointed to her collar.

"I can't leave the castle, or this collar will shock me. If I try to take it off, I might die. The only person who can remove it is Eggman, and I can't get it off except for when I bathe...."  
Bret scoffed.

"Shut up, dog boy!" snapped Rouge. Bret stopped laughing, but smiled.

"Come on, I was supposed to act like that wasn't funny?"

Rouge only leered. Bret turned away.

"Okay, joking aside. I'm off to get three rats. When I come back, we'll talk."

Bret jumped out the window and began to walk away. He walked through the woods, and looked at his watch.

8:02

A gun cocked. Bret froze.

"Dragunov sniper rifle, capable of firing at a range of up to 1,300 meters with a scope," said a serious voice. Bret slowly lifted his hands in the air, surrendering.  
"Yes, it's an excellent weapon," replied Bret. He gently released the buckle holding his weapon and it clacked to the ground. "Drop your Desert Eagle, too." The gun held to Bret poked him in the back. Bret obeyed.

(Michael Westen: Sometimes it's better to do as you're told when confronted by a gunman. It's a lot easier to avoid questions than it is to avoid bullets.) "What's your name, canine?" asked the voice.

"Name's Bret. Who are you?"

"I'm Shadow."

Bret recalled Shadow's name in the paper numerous times. He was an agent used by Eggman for defense.

"Shadow, I've heard of you. You're loyal to the King."

Shadow scoffed. "That's what everybody thinks. I'm loyal only to myself."

Bret slowly turned to face the black and crimson hedgehog.

"Then I pity you." Shadow's gun moved up to the wolf's face.

"You have the same weapon that was used to try and kill the doctor. I could have you lynched from the tallest tree in half a moment, I could have you killed by firing squad. Hell, I could even give you a free cremation. No charge to your family..."

Bret was silent, his hands still in the air.

"...But I'm not going to do that."

Bret eyed the hedgehog suspiciously.

"What do you want from me?" asked Bret. Shadow lowered his gun.

"I want you to kill the doctor."  
Bret scoffed.  
"What do you think I've been trying to do? You think I just walk around with a dragunov and a desert eagle because it's good exercise?"

Shadow was unmoved. "I understand that you need the chaos emeralds," he said. Bret was surprised, and he had enough. In a swift move, he grabbed hold of the arm that held the glock, and whirled around, flipping Shadow over his shoulder and onto the ground. In the process, Bret grabbed hold of the weapon and held it to Shadow's face. Shadow remained stoic.

"It's my turn to play interrogator. How did you know I wanted the chaos emeralds?" asked Bret, staring the hedgehog down.

"Doctor Eggman was suspicious of Tails and Amy. I guess he was right to be. You have quite the crusade starting up, you know. Tails is a walking brain, Amy's a comforting person to be with, Rouge is good with silence and thievery. And as for you, I don't know you well."

Bret frowned. "Be glad you don't know me well. And you didn't answer my question. How did you know about the chaos emeralds?"

"It's not difficult to hear you guys from the bushes," said Shadow. Bret gulped.

"I want in," said Shadow, staring up at the wolf. Bret scoffed.

"I don't think so," he said. Shadow smirked.

"The hard way, then. Just the way I like it." With that, Shadow tore the weapon out of Bret's hand with such speed that the wolf barely had a chance to gasp. Shadow rolled forward and away from the wolf, landing on his feet and turning to Bret, pointing the gun at him once more.

"I said I want in," said Shadow. Bret shook off his surprise.

"You can't always get what you want," he replied. Shadow nodded, and reached into his quills.

"Maybe a peace offering will help," said Shadow, taking a green chaos emerald out of his quills and holding it out to the wolf. Bret was obviously surprised, as he backed up a step or two at the sight of the emerald.

"How... how did you..."

"That's not your business. Now, take it."

Shadow tossed the emerald at Bret's feet, but he did not touch it.

"How do I know it's not rigged?" asked Bret. Shadow nodded.

"You're right. I would waste time rigging an emerald to kill you when I have the means and the weaponry to do that right here and now in less than a second. You're onto me."

Bret slowly and cautiously picked up the emerald, and it only glowed in response. Shadow lowered his weapon.

"The chaos emerald is a compass. Each emerald will point to the next. All you have to do is know how to read that compass. I know how to read it. If you let me in, I'll help you find the emeralds," offered Shadow. Bret remained cautious. He knew Shadow's history: the events that took place on the ARK, his loyalty to the King, and his being the Ultimate Life Form (that information has been false for the past six months. Chuck Norris wanted his nickname back). Why should he trust the black and crimson hedgehog?

"Why should I trust you?" asked Bret. Shadow grunted.

"I'm a double agent."

"You could be a triple agent."

"If I was a triple agent, you'd already be dead."

"If you were a triple agent, _you'd _already be dead."

(A/N: It's like watching Shadow arguing with Shadow, isn't it?)

Bret stared down Shadow. Shadow turned away.

"I don't have all day. Is it a yes or a no?"

"If Tails and Amy trust you, then I'll do the same."

Shadow turned his head partially, nodded, and walked a few steps away from Bret.

"This conversation never happened," said Shadow. Bret nodded.

"Done."

Shadow looked to the sky.

"Chaos control!"

In a light like that of a camera flash, the hedgehog vanished. Bret was left to think for himself.

_Just why does he want to be on our side? Is he really a double agent? Should I trust him? _Bret asked himself. He shook his head to clear it of his thoughts, and began to walk, remembering to retrieve his weaponry first.

"I can either buy a few rats or catch a few..." he said to himself. Under the King's new rule, the physically ill or incapable were taken away and placed in detention facilities for life. The mentally ill, however, were paid a bit of money each week. Bret never understood why the King paid the ill, and such a confusing question irritated him to no end. He had come up with theories, though.

-The King is paying the sick so they don't attack him.

-The King is paying to get on their good sides, only to place them in the detention facilities when guard is let down.

-The King is paying the sick to seem like a good guy in front of the rest of the world.

Bret reached into his pants pocket and took out his wallet. He counted his money. All in all, he had about 200 dollars on him at the moment.

"I need food for home... but Tails needs those rats more," said Bret aloud to nobody in particular. Before heading to the pet store where he would find the rats, Bret decided to drop off his weaponry. It'd be bad if he walked into a shop of any sort carrying a fully loaded Desert Eagle and Dragunov. He made a brief pit stop at home and dropped off his weaponry, then walked into town.

His jaw fell open at the sight of the city. It looked like a bomb had just hit, a nuclear holocaust. Many buildings had been reduced to rubble, nobody was in sight. Cars were scattered across the road, some still running with driver doors open, others motionless from a head on crash. Interestingly enough, Bret noted, the cars that had fallen under the six major categories of crash had little to no blood inside them, not to mention the fact that there were no bodies inside of the vehicles. In the cars that were still running, however, the windows were completely splattered with blood. Bret approached one car that was idle. It's doors were all shut, and the driver side window was shut, matted with blood that Bret could not see through. He cautiously ran his fingers down the outside of the window, and saw that the blood was not on the outside of the window, but on the inside. He placed his right hand on the car door handle, and cautiously opened the door...

But the car was empty. It was as matted with blood as the window was. Bret knew it was not humanly possible for this blood to belong only to one person, let alone one mobian. A rear side window had been shattered, and it looked like whatever it was that caused the massacre in the car had dragged the owners of the vehicle out through the back window. Looking around closer in the car, Bret made out a single hair on a clean part of the floor. Cautiously taking it out of the car, he held it up to the light.

The hair in his hand was blue.

"It's Sonic," said Bret.

**RAAAAGH!**

Bret found himself on the ground with something on his back. Rolling his eyes as far to the side as he could and turning his head a bit, he made out a human. It was bloodied, matter spilling out of various wounds. Bret groaned, and lifted his elbow, making contact with the human's face. The 'human' recoiled, and Bret quickly rolled to his side, jumping on top of his attackers back this time, and snapping the neck. He began to pant.

"Ugly son of a bitch, aren't you?" said Bret, staring at the now dead attacker. Bret took in his situation: He was alone, didn't know what to do, hungry, and worst of all, he was unarmed. Looking around, Bret sighed. He could either find the rats at the pet store in town, or throw in the towel and return home, retrieve his weapons, and fight back. Turning his head the other way, Bret saw the pet store right across the street. The pros outweighed the cons here, and Bret risked it, heading for the pet store unarmed. He opened the door, and was surprised to see that none of the animals were hurt. The shop owner was nowhere to be found. Bret eyed the rats. He picked up a cage and placed three rats inside it.

He wasted no more time. Bret booked out of the pet store, out of the city limits, and continued running to the castle. Finally, he got to Tails' window, out of breath and angry about the city.

It was 9:09, and Bret gently tapped on the window.

"Delivery!" he called, still catching his breath. A few seconds later, the window opened. Tails eyed the dirty wolf curiously.

"Why are you so sweaty... and why are you all dirty?" asked Tails. Bret ignored the question and entered through the window.

"Don't go to the city."

Tails tilted his head curiously.

"Why? What's wrong with the city?" Bret placed the cage of rats on a table. He turned his head to the fox.

"Your disease. That's what's wrong with the city."

End of 8

* * *

**I want to call these monster things 'zombies', but I'm afraid to. And also, all I just wanted to say about this one is that I think I made a pretty cool chapter altogether, thank you very much.**


	10. The Typical Illness Period

Chapter 9

The Typical Illness Period

Tails stared at Bret, unsure of what to say.

"Sonic made it into the city. He single handedly destroyed it, infecting anyone in sight said Bret, his brow furrowing into anger.

"Why would he do that?" asked Tails. Bret slammed his fist against a wall. "If I knew, I'd answer that! This isn't a game anymore, Tails! You don't have three chances!"  
Tails seemed to shrink a little hearing the roar of Bret's voice.

"Well.... I.... I didn't... I didn't know the disease would-"  
Bret scoffed and turned away from the fox.  
"Of course you didn't know! You can't predict the future, but you could've at _least _waited for me or Amy to show up before injecting your friend and dooming the world-- not to mention screwing up my chance at the King's life! You're smothering me, man! I can't friggin' _**breathe!**_" Bret screamed, flipping out not really in anger at Tails, but more in anger at the fact that he couldn't seem to understand why the disease was becoming so destructive. Bret suddenly realized he had yelled at the fox and caused a tension to develop. He turned his head away from Tails and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Tails. I'm not... it's not your fault. I get mad when I get confused."

Tails nodded.

"It's alright, but what did you mean by 'three chances'?"

"Give one rat an injection at a time."  
Tails smiled for the first time since Bret's lecture about the first disease.

"That's a good idea."

"Wait! Tails, listen. Did you talk to Shadow the Hedgehog before?"

Tails backed up a step in surprise. "Yes, I did. How'd you know?"

Bret turned away. "We had a little.... chit chat yesterday about a truce and about emeralds."

"Yes! Shadow wanted me to give you this. Here!"  
Tails handed Bret a note.  
"Canine,

Rendevous with me where we met yesterday at 0940."

Bret nodded. "Tails, kill the rats, stick a needle in the body and cure death, and figure out what went wrong before."

Tails nodded.

"What about Eggman? Are you going to kill him?"  
Bret turned his head.

"I'm not going to kill him yet. When you get in touch with that batty bitch, tell her I want her to look around the castle for something, _anything _that I could use to help find the emeralds. If she's stuck in here, she might as well do _something _while she's doing _NOTHING._"

"Right."

Bret began to climb out the window.

"Bret!"  
He froze, one leg over the window sill.

"When you return, I want you to start looking for rebels. I know about forty rebels who supply me with my experiments. You need to help find more so we have a chance should we be busted. We wouldn't last against an army."  
Bret's eyes widened. The loyalist army from his dream and

the rebel army...

"You alright?"

Bret shook off his surprise, and nodded.

"I'll do that."

"And Bret?"

Bret stopped again, losing his patience.  
"Yes?"

"Learn to control your temper, okay?"

Bret gulped, and nodded.

"On it."

He leapt out the window and looked at his watch.

9:21.  
He began to walk and found the place where he had met Shadow the first time. Footprints and signs of a struggle were still visible in the dirt. Bret smirked, proud that his memory didn't abandon him. He stood for 10 minutes, then sat for the next 9. At exactly 9:40, Shadow appeared in front of Bret. Bret smiled.

"You wrote?"

Shadow only nodded. He held out a Desert Eagle.

"You'll need this for what I need you for," said Shadow. Bret eyed the hedgehog suspiciously.

"How did you get my gun?"

Shadow smirked. "It's not hard for me to warp into your house, wolf."

Bret frowned. "I have a name, you know."

Shadow ignored him. Bret took the Desert Eagle and eyed the hedgehog.

"I need the emerald back. You and I are going to hunt today."

Bret nodded. "Considering you spoke to Tails, I trust you."

Shadow said nothing, and only took the emerald from the wolf. He held it in the air, and shut his eyes. He smiled.  
"It's just as I thought. There is an emerald in the city. Westopolis."  
Bret backed up a step in surprise.

"Did you see what happened to that city?!!?" he asked. Shadow eyed the wolf directly in the eye.

"I know. Now then, will you help me or not?" asked Shadow, irritated. Bret shut his eyes, and nodded, with a grimace on his face.

"I'll do whatever you say."

Shadow nodded.

"Chaos Control!" yelled Shadow. When Bret first closed his eyes, he was in the woods. When he opened them, he was in the city again. The air smelled of injury and blood, fear and death. Bret observed the city's condition. It seemed to be just as bad as it was earlier.  
"We must head south."  
Bret jumped and turned to Shadow, whom was already walking south without the wolf.

"Hey! Wait up!" called Bret, following. It seemed like he had stopped the moment he caught up with Shadow. His ears perked up, and he looked around.  
"Hmpf!" grunted Bret, and he leapt into the air. Another one of those creatures landed underneath his feet. It was a blue...

"Sonic!" growled Bret as he stepped off the hedgehog and prepared to fight. The hedgehog, face down on the ground, suddenly and without warning turned it's head to face the wolf. It let out a roar, showing rotting, blood matted teeth. Bret understood what the blood had meant.

The hedgehog had been feeding.

Out of the blue, the hedgehog grabbed hold of Bret's leg and sunk it's teeth into the pants, fur, and meat. The wolf let out a howl of pain.

Shadow had long since turned to observe the fight. Rather than jump in to save the wolf immediately, he instead waited to see what he would do. Bret ripped his leg out of the hedgehog's mouth and brought his foot down on it's head. The attack didn't kill the creature, but it _did_ send a message across to the primitive creature's mind: That the wolf wasn't on today's menu. The hedgehog stood up, clutching the back of it's head and looked at Shadow. It ran full speed to the waiting hedgehog, but Shadow only smirked.

"Chaos control!" he called, and vanished from Sonic's sight. Sonic, rather than stopping to investigate, only kept running, moving with one foot and dragging the other along as if it were dead weight that was no longer needed. Soon after, the hedgehog had vanished from sight. Shadow turned to Bret.

"How bad is the injury?" he asked. Bret was crouching, rubbing the wound and trying to stop the bleeding. He looked up at Shadow.

"I can keep going. Take me back to the castle after we find the emerald."

Shadow stared at the wolf, and nodded. After tying a piece of his pant leg around the area above the wound to slow disease spreading, Bret stood up and began to limp, following Shadow. The wolf and the hedgehog turned a corner.

"We need to continue down this street..." Shadow began, but Bret cut him off."Sweet merciful-"

**ROOOOAAAARRRR!!!!**

Bret was eyeing a horde of the creatures, all attacking an unknown object. The horde didn't seem to notice the two animals observing them and their meal.

"They don't see us. Chaos Control!" called Shadow.

Shadow and Bret appeared on the other side of the horde, but unfortunately, the horde took note of their presence this time, and began to pursue, leaving behind several half eaten infantry members.  
"Run!" said Shadow, grabbing Bret's arm and dragging him down the street. At the speed Shadow was able to travel, Bret's legs easily became raw from the friction, but on the plus side they lost the monsters. Shadow took a turn and eyed an emerald. A monster leapt from a nearby building on top of the emerald. It was red raw and had a long, forked tongue with four legs and claws. Bret couldn't understand what the creature used to be. Perhaps a dramatic mutation of the virus strand caused a human or mobian to undergo a dramatic transformation? Shaking his head, Bret decided to open fire. He fired six rounds into the creature, and it attacked back. It's tongue shot out of it's mouth, aimed at Bret, but he rolled out of the way. He had exhausted his ammunition, and called out to Shadow.

"Shadow! Go to my house and get me more of my desert eagle ammunition! Hurry up!" he called. Shadow nodded.  
"Chaos Control!" called Shadow, and he vanished. Bret was left to fend for himself.

"It's time to play the delaying game," said Bret. Again the monster fired it's tongue at the wolf, and this time it grabbed hold of his head. It's tongue was adhesive, and it was dragging Bret towards it for food.

As quickly as he was caught, Bret was freed. a powerful strike impacted with the tongue. The monster let out a shriek and retracted it's tongue quickly. Shadow smirked, bringing his hand back from the chop he had just used. He dropped ammo in front of Bret.

"Hurry up." said Shadow. Bret nodded and reloaded, quickly firing six more rounds into the monster, and reloaded. The monster fired it's tongue again, but this time grabbed Shadow. Bret quickly fired six more rounds into the creature and this time managed to take it down. It's tongue turned to dust, and it settled to the floor. All was quiet for a moment, and Shadow approached the dead beast. He flipped it on it's side and took the emerald that was waiting underneath it. He turned back to Bret and said nothing.

"Chaos Control!"

In a flash, Bret was in front of Tails' window again. He felt more pain in his leg. Turning to look for Shadow, he had vanished, only leaving behind the two emeralds. Bret pocketed the jewels and stood. Standing on one foot, he began to knock on the window.

"Tails? Tails! I need some help, I've been bitten," Bret called. A few moments later, Tails made himself visible. He opened the window and stared at Bret.

"What happened? I couldn't hear you."

Bret sighed, and brought his bad leg onto the window sill.

"I've been bitten." Tails gasped at the wound, beckoning Bret to come in again. He pulled the wolf's arm over his shoulder and helped him over to a table, where he made Bret lay down.

"How long has it been?" asked Tails as Bret pulled his pant leg up to expose the wound.

"About..."  
Bret looked at his watch.

He guessed he had been bitten at around 10, and it was 11:30 now.

"I guess.... an hour and a half or something."

Tails nodded, and there was a knock at his door. He froze, and Bret drew his empty desert eagle.

"Tails? It's Amy!"  
Tails and Bret sighed in relief, and Bret put away his gun.  
"Come in, Amy."

The door slid open and the pink hedgehog walked in the room. She gasped at the sight of the wolf lying on the table. Tails had already gone to his closet to retrieve iodine, stitching wire, tweezers, medical tape, and a syringe.

"What happened, Bret?" asked Amy as she approached her friend.  
"I got bit in the city," said Bret as he eyed his wound. It was deeper than he had thought, and wasn't looking good. Amy stared down at the wound. Tails had returned to the wolf.

"Can you feel this?" asked Tails as he gently tapped the wound. An instant, yet dull pain shot through the area, and quickly vanished. Bret nodded.  
"Okay. Listen, I tried testing those three rats. After two, I think I got the right combination! It was the plague that was causing the aggressiveness. All I had to do was lower the concentration of the disease, and it's fine now. I'll have to inject you with a small concentration of the new disease so it kills off the old one. I injected the third rat with the old disease, and the same thing happened. Then, I injected it with the new disease, and it... it became calm again."

Bret nodded, and Tails continued.

"I'm going to clean your wound, pick out the infection, inject this new disease into your wound, stitch you up, and clean it out one more time."  
Bret nodded, wincing just _thinking _about the pain he was about to be in. He shut his eyes and lay his head back.

A sharp burning sensation and pain began to shoot through his wound. He had to resist every urge to scream, to howl, to make a peep. Doing so, he'd risk alerting the King of his presence, though strangely enough, he was able to blow his stack earlier in the day and still not alert the King. His pain and his words might fall on deaf ears. Still, he kept quiet, trying his best to ignore the ever increasing pain in his leg.

"It's done," said Tails, and the iodine stopped pouring into the wound. The pain reduced itself to a burning sensation. Bret's eyes, originally squeezed shut in pain, relaxed.

"Okay, here we go... I'm going to take the infection out of your leg..."  
"Tails!"

Tails turned his head to Amy.

"Remember when you had that infection in your arm? _I _picked it out, and you said you didn't feel a thing?" she asked the fox. He thought back to a time when he was 7 and scraped his arm on a sharp part for a plane. Two days later, an infection was noticeable, and Amy picked the infection out of his arm, and he barely felt a thing.

He nodded, smiling and holding the tweezers out to the hedgehog. She took the demon tweezers and Bret shut his eyes, again laying his head back on the table. He could feel the tweezers picking out the pale gunk that was the infection, but he didn't feel any pain. He opened his eyes and looked at Tails, who was busy watching Amy. Not wanting to interrupt by moving around, Bret only rolled his eyes down as far as possible to see if Amy was really taking the infection out. Sure enough, she was. He shut his eyes again as a dull and very slight pain made itself noticeable.  
"I'm done, Tails," said Amy several minutes later. The infection that had lined the wound was now in a pile on the edge of the table.

"Okay. Amy, get rid of those gloves and wash your hands."

She nodded, and ran off to the bathroom.

"Okay Bret, now we have to do the hardest part. I'm going to inject this disease directly into your wound. It will hurt, but it's harder for me than for you. I have to be able to inject you directly into the deepest part of your wound."

Amy had walked out of the bathroom and stood next to Bret, observing Tails pouring a little more iodine inside the wound to prepare for the syringe. The iodine didn't seem to hurt as bad as it did the first time for Bret.

"Amy, let him squeeze your hand, " said Tails. Bret eyed the fox, then the girl again.

"Why would I need to do that?" asked Bret.  
"Because if you don't, you will scream. You _WILL _scream. It is going to hurt, I'm not going to lie. Squeeze her hand so you can get rid of the pain somehow that doesn't involve sound."

Bret looked uncertainly at his hand, then at Amy who was holding hers out already. He reluctantly put his hand in hers, and refused to make eye contact. He felt the pain of the injection. It was the worst pain he had felt that day, worse than the iodine, worse than the initial injury. (I know what an injection into an open wound feels like. It doesn't tickle.) He did as he was told and squeezed on Amy's hand, careful not to squeeze too hard.

"Okay, I found the spot. I'm going to start the injection. "

Bret's grip on Amy's hand lessened as the initial pain slowed.

"Done. Now we have to stitch you up. Keep holding her hand."

Bret shook his head.  
"I know what being stitched up feels like. It doesn't hurt that bad."

Tails nodded.

"Did you get stitched up in an area that was infected with something? Because if you didn't, that area is extra sensitive."  
"Bret, it's okay, I don't mind."

Bret looked at Amy, then at Tails, and lay his head back again. He did not remove his hand from Amy's. Tails began to tie up the stitching wire to the needle, and he got ready to stitch up the wound.

"Okay, here we go."

Tails pushed the needle through one part of the wound, and Bret's grip tightened on Amy's hand. The pain stopped, and then started again as Tails repeated the process. As each throb of pain shot through Bret's leg, he squeezed Amy's hand a bit, trying his hardest not to scream or yell out in pain. Finally, Tails said the magic words.

"Okay, done."

Bret's hand fell out of Amy's, relieved.

"Now, the easiest part. We just have to dress your wound."

"Okay," said Bret, taking a breather from the pain he had felt. He sat up and took the medical tape out of Tails' hands.

"I can do this part."

He wrapped up his leg with the tape, and ripped it.

"Okay, Bret. Now go in my bathroom, wash your hands. Amy, you and I have to do the same thing."

The trio walked into the bathroom and began to wash their hands. It felt great for Bret to get the dried blood off of his hands.

"Amy?" he asked. She turned her head to him.

"What is it?"

"Thanks. Thanks, both of you. I appreciate it."

Amy and Tails smiled.

"Sure thing. What were you doing that got you bit?"

Bret smiled and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out the two emeralds.

"Finding these with Shadow."

Amy and Tails smiled at the emeralds, exultant seeing the jewels.

"That's great!" said Tails.  
"Where did you find them? And what bit you?"

Bret sighed.

"In the city. And..... your friend bit me. Sonic."

End of 9

(A/N: Squeezing someone's hand or biting down on wood or something is supposedly good to do when you're in imminent pain. There will be no pairings in this story so long as I'm the only one writing it. If you haven't seen my other stories, my little cousin likes to help out... and romance ends up following her. But, I think she'll be busy a while, considering she's working on her own story right now.)

(A/N: Okay, this is a little bit out of left field, but in a past chapter, I said that Tails' window was shattered by Bret, then later on it says Bret tapped on the window, and then after that it's broken again. It's a goof. I know that it's not really a big deal, but the truth is it does bug me when I make mistakes like this.)


	11. Searching for Survivors

Chapter 10

Searching for Survivors

"I am tired of fighting.... Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I shall fight no more forever!"

-Chief Joseph, 1877

At the name, the hedgehog and the fox's hearts began to ache. Bret began to explain what happened in the city in better detail than he had originally for Tails.  
"Bret, do you think you can go back there and look for survivors?" asked Amy.  
Bret turned his head to the girl. He nodded.

"I'll do whatever you guys tell me to do."  
"In that case, you need to go home, get your weapons, and look for survivors in the city," said Tails. Bret nodded.

"On it."

He turned to leave, but Tails called out to him again.

"Wait!"

He froze in his tracks.

"Two things: Are you okay to go to the city? You're relying on your right leg. Is your left leg bothering you?"

"A tad, but I can make it," Bret answered in all honesty.

"Okay, now one more thing: Are you hungry? When was the last time you've had a bite to eat, or some time to sleep?"

Bret looked at his watch.

11:59, then to 12:00.

"Uhh...."  
He tried to think back. He didn't eat a thing earlier that day, nor the day before.... It had been about two days. (If my D average math skills don't betray me today.)

"2 days ago," he said, looking back up. Amy put a hand to her mouth, and Tails backed up in surprise.

"Sheesh, aren't you hungry?!" asked Tails in surprise. Bret shrugged.

"I never really thought about it..."

"Bret, new plan: Go home, eat, sleep, and _then _find the survivors," said Amy. Bret shook his head.

"The disease won't wait-"  
"And neither will your health!" countered Amy. All was silent for a moment.

"I lost my Sonic already, I'm losing him twice! I can't deal with losing another friend, whether it's you _or _Tails!"  
Bret's eyes widened. 'Friend'? He had never had a friend before, and although he, Amy, and Tails had been through a lot, he considered their relationships more of an 'alliance', a foothold to help him kill the King. Besides that, he doesn't know how to treat a friend. He'd never had a friend before.

"I thought you said you'd do whatever we told you to do."

Bret shut his eyes and nodded.

"I... I did."

"So, do as we tell you now! Eat, sleep, bathe, do whatever you need to. _Then _go find survivors!" said Amy. Bret nodded.

"I'm on it."

Bret left the room via the window and walked home, silently cursing to himself out of the pain in his leg. When he got home, Shadow was waiting for him.

"How's the leg?" asked Shadow as Bret approached.

"I'm fine. Have you found any other emeralds I should know about?"

Shadow smiled, something that rarely happens. He held up another two emeralds.

"That's four. The other three are in the castle."

Bret nodded.

"I'll get those emeralds tomorrow. Today I have to find survivors, anyone that would fight the King."

Shadow nodded, and handed Bret the emeralds.

"Guard these with your life."

Bret took the emeralds, entered his house, and sealed it off to nourish himself before searching for the survivors.

--

Meanwhile...

--

**SLAM! **

"WHAAAAAAT?!!? That's impossible! I sent my most elite soldiers to that city, and now you're telling me we lost _**CONTACT?!!?**_"

"Your Highness, please calm down...." said a robot, but the King was inconsolable.

"What is going on in there!?!?!!? What happened?!" Eggman yelled.

"Satellites show the city of Westopolis in ruins; the people look sick and aggressive. It's the people attacking your soldiers."

"Why won't they fight back!??"

The robot was silent for a moment, then prepared for the worst.

"They _did _fight back, your highness."

**SLAM!**

"Then why didn't they win?" asked the King through clenched teeth.

"Scanners indicate an epidemic enclosed in the city. It appears that whatever it is destroying your troops is confined to Westopolis only. No other parts of the world show signs of such aggression or death."

"But, WHY won't my troops kill these people!?"

"They are outnumbered. Scanners say that these people are consuming your soldiers, and your soldiers that are attacked get up again and consume other people as well."  
Eggman slowly turned to face his robot.  
"Are you telling me that these people are cannibalizing my troops, and then my troops are doing the same thing?"

"Affirmative."

Eggman sighed.

"Suggested course of action: Send in non-biological troops."

Eggman lit up.

"No, shut up! I have a better idea. I'll send in non-biological troops! Hah! I'm a genius!"

The King turned to an intercom and picked up the walkie talkie.

"All available armed robots to the city of Westopolis. Use lethal force if necessary."

He hung up the walkie talkie, and smiled an evil smile.

"Even if I do lose Westopolis, I still have the rest of the world... and I have three of the emeralds."

He turned his head to the robot.

"Have any more emeralds been located?"

The robot was silent for a moment, then responded.

"Negative."The King nodded.

"I understand. Keep up the search."

--  
"Hello? Is there anyone alive out there?"

Bret heard nothing, just the wind howling through the shattered city and the skeletons of the buildings that once stood above it's proud streets. He turned to the pet store, knowing that because the animals were still alive, he had a chance of finding survivors. He opened the door, relieved not to have found any monsters yet, but remaining on his toes nonetheless.

"Hello? Is there anyone alive in here?" he called. The wolf heard something fall in a backroom, and he cautiously lay his back against the wall next to the door. Placing his Desert Eagle in his right hand, Bret opened the door with his left, and watched as several bullets flew through the doorway.

"Hey, knock it off!"

The bullets ceased.

"Is anyone here infected?"  
"No, are you?"  
"No."

One by one, a group of seven humans and two mobians made themselves visible for Bret.

"Are you loyal to the King, or are you against him?"

The survivors were suspicious.  
"How do we know to trust this guy?" asked a male porcupine.

"Because if you couldn't trust me, you'd be dead right now."  
"Yeah, I'm loyal to the King," said the male porcupine, scratching his nose. Bret smirked.

"You're a liar."  
Guns all pointed at the wolf.

"Relax, I hate the King. In fact, I'm trying to kill him. I wouldn't have told you that and risked talking to a few loyalists, but I see that you don't have a lot of ammunition to spare, and why waste it, right?"

One by one, the guns lowered.

"We don't like Eggman."

"Do you guys want to bring him down?"

A murmur echoed among the crowd, and one by one people responded in the affirmative.

"We're going to take him down. If you guys know of any other survivors, I'd appreciate it if you told me where they were."

"We know where to find another group, but we're going with you."

Bret nodded.

"Is this other group for or against the King?"

"Against," responded the group simultaneously. Bret nodded. The group headed out the door, and a few creatures were seen limping about. The group readied their weapons, but Bret waved them down.

"Save your ammo. They don't seem to be able to move very fast. Just run past them."

Bret eyed the monsters suspiciously.  
"Wait a minute..." he mumbled. One of the "monsters" was nowhere near the others. It was a mobian parrot, and while it limped like a monster and acted like a monster, it had no injuries. Bret saw through the ruse, and approached the mobian. He knew the parrot wasn't infected when he approached and wasn't attacked. He grabbed the parrot and kicked it's legs out from under it. He shoved a desert eagle in the parrot's face.

"Here's how this will go down: You talk, I decide if you live."

The mobian struggled, but Bret pushed the desert eagle further into the parrot's face.

"Mmmbth! Guuuu....?"  
The gun cocked, and Bret began to growl. Finally, the parrot broke down.

"Okay, okay! Don't kill me!"  
"Tell me why you're doing that."

"I... I.... I thought I could trick the monsters. Don't kill me!"

Bret sniffed around the parrot. He could smell drugs.

"You're a user and a loser, just like that idiot, Eddie."

'Eddie' was among the long list of people that Bret didn't get along with. For a while, Bret wondered if Eddie was anywhere in the city, but he waved off that possibility knowing that Eddie was probably off getting into trouble with the law in a neighboring city, Bellic.

"Are you for or against the King?" asked Bret. The parrot was unresponsive. Bret shoved the Desert Eagle further into his face again.

"Do you want to know what a bullet tastes like?"

"For!" said the Parrot, struggling.

"Really?" asked the porcupine from earlier. "Because we're all against him."  
The parrot looked at the group.

"You're bluffin'!"

Bret groaned.

"If you don't believe us, then go on your own. See how long you last against the rest of them," said Bret, wrapping an arm around the parrot's neck and facing him in the direction of the real monsters.

"I'm for King Eggman!" said the parrot.  
"Final answer?" asked Bret. The parrot remained unresponsive.

"Then you're a loyalist," said Bret, shoving the parrot toward the monsters. He watched unmoved as the parrot tried in vein to fight against the monsters, meeting his untimely demise.

"Now he doesn't have to pretend anymore," said Bret. He turned to face the survivors, some in shock, others uncaring.

"Where is the other group, and is it for or against, or do you not know?"

"They hid in a police station, and I think they're against the King, but I'm not sure," said one of the survivors. Bret turned away and started walking in the direction of the only police station in town (opposite of the direction that the creatures were in). They turned away and walked, just as the parrot started to come back again. The streets were howling with the sound of wind and sounds of death. Relatively few of the infected stood in the way. Most were already dead, bullet wounds on every body.

"The surviving group likely went through here," said Bret.

"How can you tell?" asked one survivor. Bret pointed at one of the bodies, and walked away shaking his head.

"We need to hurry. They might have used up all ammo. I want to get to them before night," said Bret, observing the time. He had used two hours for himself: One for eating, and another for a power nap. He left his house at about 2:30, and it had been an hour and a half since he found the survivors.

The time was 4:12, and days were long. He had until about 8 PM before the sun set.  
The police station made itself visible shortly after, the front double doors wide open. At once, several laser pointers lit up on Bret's torso.

"We aren't infected!" called Bret. At first, only two pointers vanished. Then, one by one, the rest followed.

"The King is bad, the King is evil! What do you think?" called Bret.

One by one, a survival group of 20 people appeared.

"The King sucks!"  
"It's all his fault!"  
"What happened to our goddam support?"

"Monarchy isn't the way!"

Bret nodded.

"Are you infected?" he asked the group. The group (all humans) responded in the negative.

"You want the King to fall?"  
The group responded in a loud roar of approval.

"Then keep your weapons, and prove useful. Does anyone here know of any other survival groups other than the one at the pet store?"

One human stepped forward. Bret beckoned her to come closer.

"Where did that next group go?" he asked.  
"I... I think they said something about going to the hospital," the surviving girl responded.  
"How big was the group?" asked Bret, looking up at the human. She shrugged.

"Big. Really big, I think it was about 70 people."

Bret backed up a step.

"Really?" asked Bret, his eyes shallowing out to a gaze.

"Yeah, maybe a few less, I don't know."  
Bret's eyes hollowed out even further.

"Kill the King..." he whispered to himself. "...need help..." he breathed.

"Uh, what else do you need to know?" asked the girl.

"Is that group for or against the King?" asked Bret.

"I don't know, but considering how this is all his fault, I think they'd be against him. Why are you asking that?" asked the girl. Bret turned away, his ears drooping a bit knowing that it was he and his allies that made the disease.

"Because I want to kill him."

She gasped.

"Why?"

Bret turned his head to her.

"Because the voices tell me I have to."

Before she said another word, Bret left by way of his usual exit: the "I'm not going to speak of this further" exit. The group followed.

"If a creature is seen, don't shoot unless it's running at you or if you really have to. Don't waste your bullets."

Bret continued walking, and felt a pinch in his bad leg.

_Crap... I think a stitch just tore._

"Are you infected?" asked one survivor seeing Bret's leg buckle quickly. He shook his head.

"I tripped while looking for survivors, and I've been limping ever since."

The survivors seemed to accept Bret's explanation, and soon a hospital was seen in the distance.

The time was now 5:32; A horde was standing in front of the hospital, but Bret quickly saw that the "horde" was really the group of survivors, observing a crude barricade designed to keep the creatures at bay. Bodies were visible on the opposing side of the barricade, so it appeared to work. Bret approached, and the survivors pointed guns at him.

"Relax, we aren't infected. Are any of you?" asked Bret. The guns lowered.

"No!" roared the crowd.

"Do you guys appreciate the King and his corruption?"  
"No!"

"Do you want to take the tyrant down?"  
"YES!"  
Bret nodded, and pointed a finger at the group.

"Do you guys know of any other survivors?" he asked. Three survivors stepped forward.

"There was another group, but it was picked up already by a black and crimson hedgehog," said one of the survivors (mobian).

"Shadow," said Bret, mainly to himself.

"Alright, the rest of you have to meet me in front of the castle. We're taking him down. Meet me by the east side of the castle tomorrow night at 9 PM. We're going to dig a few trenches," instructed Bret.

"Where do we go now?"

Bret shrugged.

"Use your imagination. Go with a friend, maybe go to Bellic City. I don't care, but please, please show up tomorrow at 9. I really need your help."

The large group let out a roar of approval, and followed Bret out of Westopolis and to a road that would take the survivors to Bellic. Exhausted and dirty, Bret dragged himself home as the crowd dispersed, took a shower, and collapsed on his bed, too tired to even change before falling asleep. Bret fell asleep in a wet towel, on his bed, at 7:02 PM.

End of 10

**I'se got no grammar problems.**


	12. Three for One at the Castle

Chapter 11

**(In memory of Billy Mays, even though I really didn't like him)**

Three for One at the Castle

"Tell me, James. Do you still sleep with a gun under your pillow?"  
-Excerpt from- _007: Tomorrow Never Dies_

--

"Non-Biological Troops, gun down anyone that gets in the way," commanded the King through an intercom to a command box installed in each robot's head.

"Scans show no sign of biological troops. Scan shows signs of disease present.

Scanning now for survivors..."

The King waited for an update impatiently. Finally, the intercom came alive again.

"...Scan complete. No results to display."

The King slammed his fist on the table.

"Then gun down anything that gets in the way, and look for more chaos emeralds!" he commanded.

"Affirmative."

The King was in disbelief. Heavily armed troops weren't able to fight back, so he had to send in robots to do the job?

"What is this, girl scout camp?" the King groaned. He turned away and walked into another room. Three emeralds sat in cases in the room.

"At least I have you... but where are the remaining four?" pondered the King, placing a hand ever so gently on one of the glass cases. He took his hand away from the case and turned away.

"I'll find them. It's not like I have competition or anything, unless Sonic can be brought back to life," he joked.

He did not know how wrong he was.

--

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*  
"Hey, open up. It's Shadow."

Bret's eyes opened a tad, and he shivered.

*KNOCK KNOCK*  
"Open this damn door!"

Bret looked around and remembered that he wasn't dressed. Panicked, Bret threw on his underwear, pants, shirt, and socks, and rushed to the door, but it was too late. Shadow appeared in front of the wolf just as he got closer to the door.

"Oh, so you aren't deaf," said Shadow. Bret sighed.

"It's a good thing you didn't come in here two seconds sooner. I was-"  
"I don't even want to know."

Bret nodded, walking back into his room.

"What do you want that's so important at..."  
Bret looked at his watch.

"...6:14 in the morning?" asked Bret.

"It's a perfect time to go get the three emeralds in the castle," said Shadow.

"Why don't you just get that stuff with your teleporting thing?" asked Bret, reaching under his bed for his shoes.

"Because I can only teleport to an area with a few emeralds, and only if the emeralds are scattered. The three that are in the castle are close together, and will distort my chaos control."

Bret nodded.

"Yeah, whatever. I don't know the way around that castle, so how do you expect me to find the emeralds? Because, it's funny. I think that in a security manual, the proper response to gunfire or an armed person sneaking around is to just riddle that person with bullets."  
Shadow held a black pistol out. It had a silencer on the muzzle.  
"Take this. It's a-"

"Glock 17, silenced? Not bad," said Bret.

_While you're in there, kill the King. He's bad, he wants to hurt you._

"I know," said Bret. Shadow observed the wolf, and nodded knowing why he had spoken random words.

"Well, in any case, stop your whining, and take your damn medicine," commanded Shadow.

"On it."

Bret took his medicine and put on his overcoat. He approached Shadow.

"Take this."  
Shadow handed Bret ammunition for the glock.

"Are you going to kill the doctor?" asked Shadow. Bret nodded.

"That's the plan."

Shadow shook his head.

"If you kill him, you risk getting yourself killed, and I can't be going in and saving your sorry behind and risk losing the chaos emeralds. You will not kill him today, understand?"

Bret was hesitant.

"Understand?" asked Shadow, irritated.

"...yes, I understand."

"I can take you just outside of the castle, but no further," said Shadow. Bret shut his eyes.

"What's stopping you?" he asked.

"Chaos Control!"

Bret opened his eyes and felt dizzy. He had experienced Chaos Control from Shadow once before, but he was prone at that time. Now, he was standing, and felt like he had just surpassed the speed of light, although he knew it wasn't possible. He had gone mach 2, maybe 3 or 4, and suddenly stopped, the G force feeling like a heavy weight on his chest...

...and it stopped, and the weight clanked to the floor.

"We're here."

Bret stumbled forward, and tried ill fetidly to regain his composure. He fell to the ground, but stood up.

"Why'd that happen?" asked Bret.

"Because you clearly aren't used to chaos control."

Bret turned to face Shadow. "Did you find a group of survivors in the city?"

Shadow nodded. "The group was about 140 people. I counted."

The wolf stared at Shadow. "Of course you did. Where did they go?" asked Bret.

"I sent them to Bellic. A care hall was opened there."  
"Was the group for or against the King?"  
"All it did the entire time was bitch and moan about how the doctor was pathetic. Against."

"Go see them, and tell them to meet me here at 9 PM tonight."  
Shadow nodded uncertainly, and turned, running away. The wolf turned to the window he had stopped in front of and tapped. It opened, and Bret climbed in.

"Hey... what are you doing here? Did you find survivors?" asked Tails. Bret nodded.  
"Close to a hundred."

"A hundred?! Are you sure!?" asked Tails. Bret nodded.

"The estimated population of Westopolis was 6,987. Shadow found another 140."  
Tails nodded.

"Why are you here?" asked Tails suddenly. Bret looked at the door.

"Shadow told me about the emeralds in this castle. I have to get ahold of them."

Tails watched the wolf uncertainly. "What about Eggman, then?" asked Tails. Bret turned his head partially.

"I'm not going to kill him yet. He's just going to have some really bad luck."

Bret carefully opened the door.  
"Here."

Tails handed Bret the earpiece and microphone from days before. Without turning his head, Bret took the items and placed them in the appropriate places.

"Thanks. I'll be in touch," whispered Bret, looking up and down the hallway before advancing. The hall was lined with pillars and archways, portraits of the King, some completed nicely, others making the King look like a character out of The Far Side. Bret's ears twitched. His heightened senses of smell and hearing revealed footsteps coming from the direction he was headed. Bret silently brought himself behind a pillar and waited. Several seconds later, a guard passed by. Bret silently leapt behind him, knocked the weapon out of his hands, and kicked his legs out from under him. He shoved the silenced glock in the man's face.

"Talking will prolong your life: Where are the emeralds," asked Bret, holding the struggling man's shoulder with one hand and pointing the gun at his face with the other.

"I... I don't know! Why would he tell me?"

Bret inched the gun closer to the man. He began to shake some more.

"I don't know! Honest!"

At this point, Bret began to growl a low growl, shoving the muzzle of the silenced weapon in the man's face. He broke down at last.

"Third floor, storage hall, third room on the right! Please don't kill me!"

Bret put his gun away, and began to choke the man.  
"Go to sleep."

Bret squeezed until the man lost consciousness, and then dragged him behind one of the pillars.

"Bret, be careful. Three guards are in the next room. They look aggressive," said Tails over the intercom.

"Thanks."

Bret walked, and opened the doors. The three guards pointed guns at the wolf, and he quickly took cover behind a nearby pillar. Bret fired his silenced weapon at the three guards, taking each and every one down before any of them could get a clear shot off. Bret knew one shot from the guard's weapons that were not silenced could endanger his stealthy entrance, and compromise his task. Bret looked at the dead guards, one mobian. Bret got an idea.

"They won't attack me if I'm a guard."

Bret took the guard and quickly changed into the uniform. The uniform was blue, with a badge, and a picture of the King's face on the back. The guard uniform was a little small on Bret. He decided to pick up the guard's weapon, an M16. The way he held the weapon hid the hole in the shirt from the bullet wound nicely. Still, Bret kept his silenced weapon in the guard jacket.

"I sure hope there's more than one mobian guard in this joint," said Bret. He started walking down the hall, and his ruse seemed to work. He passed several guards without a fight.

"Tails, I don't know where the stairwell is, let alone the storage hall. Can you..."

"Of course. Go straight through the lobby."

Bret obliged, continuing through the hall until he found the lobby, and continued.

"Tails, I passed through the lobby-"  
"Well, well, well. It's Jillian!"  
Bret turned his head partially, remembering the voice.

"Rouge?" asked Bret, with a sense of irritation.

"Hi!"

"Did Tails tell you to do something for me?"

Rouge nodded.

"Yeah, the emeralds-"  
"...are in the storage hall, I know. I um, 'asked' another guard."  
Rouge smiled.

"That's right, what are you wearing that for? Where did you get it?"  
"Stole it from a dead guard, and I'm wearing it so I don't have to sneak around that much."

Rouge smiled.

"Good job, Carlos. I knew even a stupid kid like you could use the old noodle," said Rouge, tapping a finger against her temple whilst speaking.

"Hey-""ANYWAY... how about I help you out finding those emeralds?"

Bret shook his head.

"Thanks, but I don't need help from the likes of you."

"Oh, really? Come now, let me help you."  
"You just want to get a hold of the emeralds."

Rouge shook her head.

"I may be a thief, but I'm not stupid! I'll let you have them for a while, then after you get everything back to normal, I'll just take them!"

"So now there's a method to your madness?"

Rouge pouted, and turned to begin walking down the hall. Sighing, Bret followed.

"Do you know where to go?" asked Bret after several seconds of silence. Rouge nodded.

"Of course. I live here, you know."  
Bret nodded, and the conversation fell silent again.

"We go up this stairwell," said Rouge, taking flight and heading up the stairwell. Bret simply climbed up the flights of stairs until he reached the top where the bat was waiting.

"What took you so long?" she taunted. Bret pointed at his back.

"Do you see wings?"

Rouge shook her head and began walking again.

"Alright, alright. Let's go."

The rest of the walk continued with little conversation. Bret eyed a hall with a sign above it that read "Weapons Cache".

"Hold it," said Bret. He began to walk down the hall and saw various doors guarded by camera and humans. Acting casual, Bret continued to the end of the hall, turned back, and walked straight as if he were doing rounds.

_Guess I have to eliminate those guards, _thought Bret. Looking around, he saw an alarm. He got an idea, and walked back out the hall to main street where Rouge was waiting.

"You're gonna have to get rid of all of those guards if you want to get in those rooms."

Bret nodded.

"I'm aware of that. I want to get some weapons. Do you know what kind of weapons are in there?" asked Bret.

"The weapons are all bayonet rifles, but Eggman has a secret compartment in each of the rooms with the real weapons he lets his troops use."  
"You're saying that the bayonet rifles are decoy?"

Rouge nodded.

"And if you try to enter the secret rooms, alarms will sound, and you'll lynched before you even knew what was happening."

"Okay. I'll settle for a lot of bayonet rifles."  
"There's no ammo for the bayonets," Rouge warned. Bret waved her off.

"I don't care, we'll improvise."

There was a pause.

"Whose 'we'?" she asked. Bret smiled.

"The Rebel army."

Without another word, Bret turned and walked down the hall to the closest guard.

"You! The laundry is dirty, get moving!"

The human guard looked down at the wolf, saw that he seemed quite serious, and nodded, leaving his post while Bret took his place. Bret placed a hand to the earpiece, and nodded.

"On it."

He turned and entered the weapons cache, shut the door behind him, and gaped at all of the rifles before him.

"Oh, baby. You are so talented..."

He looked back at the door that separated him from the guards.

"...and they are so dumb."

Bret began surveying his surroundings. He eyed a vent on the bottom of a wall. Taking out his silenced gun, Bret shot out the screws holding the vent in place, hoping that the metal door and walls were enough to seperate the muffled gunshots from the guard's ears. He carefully placed the vent grill on the floor, and began to take rifles. Bayonet, bayonet, bayonet, bayonet, bayonet...

He grabbed the rifles and placed them in the duct quickly.

"Bret? What are you doing?" asked Tails over the earpiece.

"I'm 'borrowing' some bayonet rifles," he answered over his microphone.

"Are you crazy? How many?!"  
"About ten, that's all!"  
"How do you expect to get them out without alerting the guards!?"  
"Oh, you're.... you're breaking up. Krzzzz..... Krzzz....."

With that, Bret fell silent despite Tails' protests. He took the ten bayonets, and slid through the vent with his rifles in front of him.

He appeared near Rouge again with the ten bayonet rifles belted around his torso.

"Need help?" asked Rouge. Bret nodded.

"Will you help me?"

Rouge nodded, taking five bayonet rifles from Bret and belting them around her torso this time. Bret's tense body eased up a bit when the extra weight was taken off.

"Thanks," he said.

"You owe me one favor, and one of the emeralds will do nicely."  
Bret shook his head while Rouge laughed.

"Not yet, after you do what you have to do."

Bret nodded this time, continuing down the weapons hall until he found the third room on his right.

"Using his silenced weapon, Bret shot down the guard that was standing in front of the door. He heard a click, and reloaded the weapon with the only remaining ammo he had.

He dropped the empty magazine to the floor, and kicked open the door.

Three emeralds met his gaze, guarded in glass boxes. Just as Bret placed one foot into the doorway, Rouge grabbed his shoulder and yanked him to the side just as a bullet dug it's way into the wall behind the two.

The sudden gunshot made Bret jump.

"What the hell?"

"Eggman has those glass boxes on pressure switches. He has the room wired. Once you release the pressure on the switches, An alarm will sound and alert any guard that didn't hear the gunshot just now."

Bret broke free and fired three rounds, breaking the glass and henceforth setting off the alarms.

"Bret, you've been compromised. Get out of there!" said Tails over the earpiece.

"I'm well aware of that," responded Bret, quickly taking the emeralds and placing them in his jacket pockets. He quickly drew his gun and held the guard gun around his chest. Bret threw his back against a wall and guns began to blaze. The gunfire patted against the hard wall, and when there was a pause, Bret returned fire, killing the guard that was shooting at him and exhausting the rest of his ammo. He heard his gun click, shook it a little, and tossed it, sending it clattering to the ground before him.

"Where do I bring these weapons?" asked Rouge, in mid flight.

"Take them to Tails' room and tell him to hide them outside of his window. Tell him to hide them in the bushes or something, I don't care!" said Bret, running as fast as he could and firing at the attacking guards. All in all, he killed about twelve guards with his gun. Finally out of all ammunition, Bret rapidly approached a large bay window. Looking behind him at the approaching guards, Bret smashed the window with the butt end of his gun, and leapt from the third story of the castle, only to roll when he hit the ground. Even so, Bret managed to tear his stitches, and could feel blood slowly running out of his wound. He began to wonder if he should see Tails again or if he should just go home and re stitch his wound again.

Gunfire interrupted his thoughts, and Bret got up and hopped on his good foot out of the line of fire as fast as he could go. To make himself move even faster than that, Bret ran with his hands and good foot until the gunfire had become silent. He was surprised that he didn't lose more than two rifles while he was moving.

He knew he could just find the weapons again when he came back that evening.

"Tails?" he said into the microphone while galloping along. "I have the emeralds, but I lost two of the bayonet rifles."

"Alright. I got the message, the guns are in the bushes, with help from Shadow. I'll see you later this evening."  
Bret went silent as he galloped to his house. He stopped short when he saw robots walking past heading toward the city of Westopolis. Bret grew nervous.

"I can't risk sleeping at my house tonight... but I don't know where else to go..." he said to himself. Shaking it off, he continued into his house when the robots were a safe distance away. He took the fruits of his labor out of his pockets and gathered them together.

"All seven chaos emeralds... Hey, maybe you guys can help me?" he asked the emeralds, though he knew he wouldn't get a reply. Sighing, Bret limped into the bathroom and took a sterile needle out of his medicine cabinet. He looked at his watch.

It was 10 in the morning sharp.

At 10:01, Bret began to stitch up his wound with floss.

At 10:12, he finished.

Looking around, Bret knew he had nothing else to do. He grabbed his weapons and a backpack, placed the emeralds in said backpack, and began to retrace his steps to find the two bayonets he dropped. It took him less than 15 minutes to find the first, but the rest of an hour to find the second. Finally, Bret took the two weapons to his house, picked up the other three, and headed for the castle.

"Why would he increase security around the castle when he could be using the guards to find the emeralds?" Bret reasoned with himself.

"That's a good question."  
Bret turned his head slowly, knowing it was Shadow's voice.

"You did well finding the emeralds. Congratulations. Carrying them around in a backpack, though.... That's stupid."

"What else was I going to do?" asked Bret. Shadow ignored him.

"Let me ask you something: Why do you think ten bayonet rifles will be enough for an army of 200+ people?"

Bret stared at Tails' window not far from him.

"I have a plan. I need you to take me to Bellic so I can get a lot of rounds for these bayonet rifles."  
"I want to know your plan first."

Bret sighed.

"Why?" he asked, on his toes and making sure Shadow wasn't a triple agent.

"I want to know why you bothered stealing those if we have such a large army," Shadow repeated (or paraphrased, depending on whose side you're on).

"I'm taking ten survivors into the castle to get more bayonets. We'll each carry ten, and that will-"  
"That will only make up for one hundred rifles out of over two hundred survivors we have. Give me an emerald, I'll fix your plan."

Bret turned to eye the hedgehog, then opened his backpack and handed Shadow one emerald. Shadow held the emerald in the air.

"Chaos Control!"

But, Shadow and Bret remained outside. Instead, two hundred and fifteen bayonet rifles appeared around the wolf and the hedgehog.  
"I can't get you the good weapons because then Eggman will know that I was involved."

Bret nodded.

"Can you at least get me two hundred or so shovels?"

"Chaos Control!"

Sure enough, two hundred shovels appeared.

"These shovels aren't just from the doctor's castle. They're from Westopolis and a few other towns."

Bret nodded.

"Chaos Control!"  
Ammunition became visible for the bayonets, but there was only thirty rounds.

"I can't take too many from anyplace without making the real owner suspicious. You'd better have some really good shots," said Shadow. Bret nodded, and looked at his watch.

11:56.

"I have a lot of time right now... what should I do?"

Shadow turned away.

"Talk to your friends."  
"I'll talk to my allies."

Shadow ignored him, and tossed him the emerald again. Bret placed it in his backpack, and knocked on the window.

Amy opened it this time.

"Bret, are you alright?" she asked, knowing about the alarm and how the wolf was responsible.

"I'm fine," he said climbing through the window.

Amy backed away to let Bret through.

"What's in the backpack?" asked Amy. Bret grinned at her.

"Jewelry," he said, opening it and showing her the emeralds.

She let out a cry of happiness, and wrapped the wolf in a bear hug. Bret nearly asphyxiated in the hold. She finally released him, and Tails appeared out of the bathroom.

"Bret, how did it go?"  
"He got the emeralds," whispered Amy to avoid any suspicion, though she doubted the King could hear her from the opposite side of the castle. Tails smiled.

"I know how we can get Sonic back, and return Westopolis to normal," said Tails.

"How's that?" asked Bret. Tails walked to his closet and came back holding a large capsule.

"This is Stranglehold. Inside of it is enough of a concentration of my new disease to bring back anyone that isn't too severely damaged, and kill off the old virus completely in the process."  
Bret put a hand in the air, and Tails smiled.

"Yes, Bret?"

"What kind of person applies to people who aren't too 'severely damaged'?"

"Anyone that is still in one piece: not missing limbs, not cut in half, etc."

Bret only nodded.

"And at the same time this new disease will kill the bad virus?"  
Tails nodded happily. Bret smiled.

"If that's the case, then Operation Stranglehold is now in effect."

End of 11

* * *

**This is the longest chapter I've written for this story.**

**Oh, and Bret came up with a name for the little crusade: Operation Stranglehold.**

**Happy fourth of July! And the fifth is my birthday! Happy birthday to me! (And I won't update for a few days because I'm going away tomorrow to see my Grandpa (Tomrrow refers to 7/3/09, if you see this later on. I'll be back by sunday or monday (7/5/09 or 7/6/09).**


	13. Operation Stranglehold, Phase One

Chapter 12

Operation Stranglehold, Phase One

"There ain't a driver, or a rig, a-runnin' any line... Ain't seen nothin' but taillights from Phantom 309."

-Phantom 309

Tails smiled an amused smile. "_Operation _Stranglehold?" he asked. Bret nodded as if there was nothing to be amused about.

"Is that new disease airborne?" asked Amy. Tails nodded.

"I have to get into the air and drop this thing. It'll release the disease over Westopolis."

Bret looked at his watch.

12:09

"The disease will kill anyone who is missing limbs as a result of infection," explained Tails.

"We're getting close... does the King know who I am yet?" asked Bret. Tails shook his head.

"Not if he didn't already know you before."

Bret nodded.

"Phase One of Operation Stranglehold will start tonight," said Bret.

"What is Operation Stranglehold?" asked Amy, curious.

"I'm planning. Tails, do you have any paper and a pencil?" asked Bret. Tails nodded, walked to a desk, opened a drawer, and took out a pencil and paper. Bret approached and began to scribble wording on the paper.

_Operation Stranglehold_

_Phase I: Dig 3 trenches_

_Phase II: Arm Rebel Army_

_Phase III: Prepare Army for attack_

_Phase IV: Attack the Loyalists_

_Phase V: Put down Loyalists_

_Phase VI: Assassinate the King_

_Phase VII: Initiate Stranglehold Disease_

_Phase VIII: Destroy remaining monsters_

_Phase IX: Place Princess in Power_

_Phase X: Restore Planet Order_

"Tonight our survivors will dig the three trenches on this side of the castle, one close to the wall, another further ahead, and another in front of that."

"Why?"  
Bret nodded. "You're right. It's a much better idea to not have any cover and be sitting ducks for the Loyalists."

"You know, I don't appreciate your sarcasm," said Tails. Bret turned his head away.

"I'm sorry," said Bret, refusing to make eye contact.

Tails looked at the wolf, not expecting Bret to actually apologize.

"It's alright..." said Tails, slightly confused.

Bret looked out the window.

"I only hope that the King doesn't notice the 200 or so shovels and bayonets littered about outside of his castle."  
"He doesn't come outside ever, not after the second assassination attempt."  
Bret eyed the fox. "How do you mean?"  
"Some guy tried to kill the King with a throwing knife when he was making his first outdoor speech. He was found and lynched. Eggman hasn't left the castle since."  
Bret nodded, but then looked at the fox strangely.

"He hasn't left the castle ever?" asked Bret. Tails nodded.

"That's just weird. In any case, he'll be dead soon."

He turned to leave.

"Bret, why don't you stay for lunch? Eggman doesn't know who you are yet, and you'll know what you're up against then!" said Tails. Bret eyed the fox strangely again.

"You're sure he doesn't know what I look like yet?" asked Bret. Tails shook his head 'yes'.

"Any guard that _did _see you is dead, and the one that isn't is too traumatized to talk."  
Bret remembered having his 'little chat' with the guard earlier that day.

"It still amazes me that the King hasn't increased security, or at least didn't lock out the rest of the world."

Tails smiled.

"Eggman tends to make bad decisions when something bad happens."

Bret frowned. "He's making it too easy."

"Come on, let's get some lunch. Did you eat yet?" asked Amy. Bret shook his head.

"Haven't eaten anything since yesterday."

Tails and Amy gasped. "Why don't you ever take care of yourself!?" asked Amy, annoyed.

"Are you my health aid?" asked Bret, then promptly put a hand over his mouth. "What was that?" asked Amy like a mother talking to her child. Bret shook his head, knowing that Amy had a large hammer, and based on a story he heard from Tails, wasn't afraid to use it.

"Do you want to apologize?" asked Amy, taking her hammer out and standing ready to give Bret a good sized dent in the side of his skull.

"Yes, I'm sorry!" he said. "I wouldn't be able to help you if I was dead!" said Bret.

"At least you know how to apologize," said Amy, putting her hammer away again. Bret sighed in relief.

"Come on, let's go eat."  
Bret nodded, knowing better than to say anything else. He placed his Dragunov in Tails' closet, along with the backpack full of emeralds.

Bret walked to the door with Amy and Tails, and it opened. The hedgehog and the fox took Bret to the eating quarters. The King sat in his throne, and Bret leered. Tails elbowed Bret in the side to get him to look straight.

"Don't look at him or he's going to suspect something-"  
"Hey!"

The trio froze, and Bret put a hand to his chest. He was looking for his gun.

"Amy, Tails, who is this?" asked the King. Amy and Tails turned to look at the King.  
"He's our friend, we want to take him for lunch," said Amy.

_Friend? Ally, _Bret mentally corrected.

"Is that so? In that case, what's his name?"

"He's-"  
"I'm Bret," said the wolf, taking his hand away from his chest and turning to face the King. The King eyed him suspiciously.

"Bret. You know who I am, I'd hope."  
"You're the King," said Bret, wearing a very fake smile.

"You know, I don't recall seeing you enter this castle," said the King. Bret gulped.

"I..."  
"Did you show up when I was in the bathroom?" asked the King. Bret mentally laughed.

"I must have, your highness, because I was deeply disappointed to not see you when I entered," said Bret, getting on a knee and bowing.

_Wow, he's so stupid it hurts! If I have to get out of a tight spot, I'll just wait for him to make my excuse for me! _thought Bret.

"Yes. Well, be good," said the King, losing interest.

Bret said nothing and followed Amy and Tails out of the King's sight.

"Amy?" said Bret. She turned her head to Bret.  
"What?" asked Amy, wearing a skeptical frown.

"I'm sorry for talking to you like that before. I was out of line. I'm sorry," said Bret. Amy's skeptical frown turned to a smile.

"You said sorry already. It's okay, I forgive you. Just don't do it again, or you aren't getting away from my hammer!" she warned jokingly, turning away and continuing to the eating quarters.

Bret felt very uncomfortable at lunch. Nobody else was there, just he, Tails, and Amy. Bret knew the room was fitted with surveillance cameras, and he knew that they were observing the entire room, not just him. He knew it, but he still felt like they were focused on him. Still, he tried to remain unknown, and he only hoped that the guards still didn't know who he was. The lunch consisted of cooked shrimp with bread, rice, and a cup of water. Bret barely touched the food as Amy and Tails calmly ate, observing their ally barely picking at his food.

"Bret?" asked Amy after swallowing a bit of shrimp. "What's wrong?"  
"Is something on your mind?" asked Tails. Bret looked up from his plate and at the fox and hedgehog.

"I'm nervous," he whispered.

"Don't be nervous, we wouldn't let you eat here if it wasn't safe," Tails tried to reassure, but Bret remained antsy. He worked on his food, but ended up leaving half behind. He retrieved his Dragunov from Tails' closet and dropped it outside of the window, then walked out the main doors. He couldn't get out of the castle sooner.

_It's time to play the waiting game,_ thought Bret. But, he recalled not wanting to go to his house with the robots waiting around. He began to head to the city of Bellic on foot.

It was 1:12 when he departed the castle for Bellic, and 3:20 when he made it to the city's limits.

"Welcome to Bellic, est. 1316," Bret read aloud. The City of Bellic was one of the oldest surviving cities on Mobius. It was well populated with over 12,000 people, and had an abnormally low crime rate. What was this city's major downfall?

It's police force was a disaster. The police couldn't catch a cold, let alone a spree killer, should one come loose. Bret sighed and continued walking. It wasn't long until he heard what he did not want to hear.

"Heeeeeeyyyy! It's Bret the Punisher! What's up, mutt?"

He let out a long, stressed sigh and turned to the voice. In front of him was a mobian, Eddie the Gecko. Eddie had green skin, green hair, wore a backwards hat, orange tinted sunglasses, a jacket and pants from the 1980's, and wore no shoes. Yes, Eddie was a hippie.

"Edward, to what do I owe this unpleasant visit?" spat Bret, wearing a look of pure hatred toward the Gecko. Eddie let out a snicker, held up a peace sign, and wore a large toothy grin like the eight year old he was at heart. It was usually difficult to believe that Eddie was 17 years old.

"Dude, that's not cool! My name's Eddie!" said Eddie. Bret just waved him off.

"I don't care. You're a user and a loser, and you don't matter to me. And my name's Bret, not mutt."

"Hey man, I gave up weed a year ago!" said Eddie.

"Oh, so this level of stupidity is normal for you?" countered Bret. Eddie let out a sigh.

"Dude, you're not cool! You've got to lose the gun, wear what I wear, bro! You're a puppet to the man the way you are now!"  
Bret shook his head.

"And you're just an idiot the way you are now."

Eddie let out a groan of irritation and turned away.

"Why are you here, robo-puppet?" asked Eddie.

"I can't go home. The King's robots are-"  
"-Are they looking for you? Dude, you're in trouble with the law?! Awesome, join the club man!" said Eddie, whirling around and holding his hand up for a high five. Bret only stared, and continued speaking.

"...As I was saying, I have to stay here in Bellic until sometime tonight. Then I'm going back home."

Eddie finally put down his hand, and his eyes widened. He leaned in to Bret.

"Dude, are you responsible for all those guys that headed for the care hall thingy?" asked Eddie. Bret shook his head.

"I'm not responsible for all of them. Look, I have to go. I've got to go find something to do," said Bret. He turned his back and began to leave.

"Bro, wait up! We should chill sometime, man! Y'know, settle all of this stuff going on between us!" said Eddie. Bret stopped walking.

"There's nothing going on between us. We just don't agree, we don't see eye to eye. And don't say 'chill' around me."

Eddie said nothing.

"Why are you in trouble with the man's robots?" asked Eddie after some silence. Bret grew irritated, but if it was a way to kill time...

"Do you like the King or hate him?"  
Eddie grinned a toothy grin.

"I like to hate him, man!"  
Bret backed up a tad in surprise.

"We actually.... agree on something."

"Dude, are you working against him?"  
Bret nodded.

"I wanna help!"

Bret slowly nodded.

"A few conditions:

1. Knock off this "dude" and "bro" crap. It's annoying.

2. Use something useful, like a rifle. Your knives won't do anything.

3. For the love of all that is decent, wear some normal clothing."

Eddie thought about it for a while, then held his hand up.

"I'll pass. Have fun with whatever you're up to, Punisher!" said Eddie before he started to run. Bret let out a low growl.

"Oh, you bet I will."

He looked at his watch.

4 PM sharp. Shrugging, Bret decided to go to Bellic City Park. He looked around and found a tree to sleep under. As he lay down, Bret set his watch alarm to go off at 7:00 that night. He shut his eyes.

Bret dreamt the same dream he'd been having every night: The war zone, but this time something was amiss. There was not two Brets. This time, the real Bret was Trench Bret, and he was not in control of his body. The King spoke again over the megaphone.

"You want me, King?" Bret called. He climbed over the trench wall.

"Here I am!" he yelled. A bullet dug itself into his waist, and he recoiled, growling. He didn't feel the bullet. It was as if the bullet passed through his body harmlessly.

The same thing happened again in the dream, and he awoke to the sound of beeping, courtesy of his watch.

It was 7 PM. Like clockwork, Bret stood, and began to sleepily run in the direction of Westopolis. About 8 minutes into his jog, he woke up and began to walk. He reached the side of the castle at 9:04, and already survivors were seen staring curiously at the shovels and bayonet rifles scattered about. Bret approached.

"Hey, how are you all? There are your shovels, and I'll show you where to dig. We're digging small trenches, at least 10 feet long, 4 feet wide, and six feet deep," explained Bret. He picked up his own shovel, and the survivors reluctantly did the same.

They began the first trench at 9:07, and as more survivors showed up, the progress sped up.

At 11:42, the survivors finished the first trench.

"Good. Let's make the second now."  
Groans were heard in the audience.

"Do you guys want to fight the Loyalists with or without cover?" asked Bret, approaching the next spot and digging. Slowly, the survivors followed and began again.

It was 1:03 when they finished, all survivors had been accounted for, and the progress was fast. Even Shadow showed up.

"One more, and we're done."  
The survivors groaned again, some threw down the shovels. Bret was not pleased.

"You ungrateful little... alright, listen. If you don't like it, then go back to the hall. You'll be proving to me how lazy and cowardly you are."

No survivors left, and Bret nodded, pleased.

"Good. Let's finish this up. This one only has to be 4 feet deep, 6 feet long, and 3 feet wide."  
The survivors let out some pleased sighs, and began the third trench.

They finished at 3:06 AM.

"Good. Come back tomorrow at 7 PM. It'll be easier tomorrow, all we need to do is hand out weapons."

Bret kept one emerald with him at all times in his coat. He tossed it to Shadow. Shadow held it up.

"Chaos Control!" he called, and the survivors (and the shovels) vanished, going back from whence they came. Shadow handed Bret the emerald.

"I'll be back tomorrow at 7, too. I think you can return home. The robots you saw were not patrolling. They were headed for the city to try and kill off the monsters. You'll be okay," explained Shadow. Bret smiled, nodding.

"I spoke to Rouge earlier. She says that the Doctor is putting together the Loyalist army. He knows the bayonets are missing, and he thinks your army is going to strike the castle. He left today at six in a heavily armored car to a secret base, planning to personally pick his very best Loyalists. His mechanical troops have all been sent into the city, so you may have a chance," explained Shadow. Bret raised an eyebrow.

"I thought the King was afraid to leave the castle," he responded. Shadow nodded.

"He is. He is in a heavily armored car heading for a secret base, and he even sent two identical cars off in random directions. He left the castle in the hands of the SRCPS."  
The SRCPS was a Police-SWAT unit. 'SRCPS' stands for "Strategic Rescue and Civil Protection Squad". Only the best troops were allowed to join the SRCPS. The difference between the SRCPS and the Loyalists was training. Loyalists were well trained, but some people were known to drop dead while training for the SRCPS. The size of the Loyalist army was large, while the SRCPS was a smaller group split into two teams: Alpha Team and Bravo Team; Bravo team was all but wiped out in the city.

"Right. I'll see you again tomorrow at 7. If you see Rouge again, tell her I said thanks for the warning."

Shadow nodded, and ran off.

Bret looked up at the night sky as he headed for home.

"It's almost show time. Nothing will get in my way this time, King. Just you wait..."

End of 12

* * *

Took me long enough, huh?


	14. And The Last Enemy Shall Be Destroyed

Chapter 13

And The Last Enemy Shall Be Destroyed

"How about I blow a hole in your face and _then _go in the house? And I sleep like a baby, you can count on that."

-Walt Kowalski, _Gran Torino _"Get off my lawn" scene.

The next morning, Bret snuck back to the castle to retrieve the other emeralds. All the way, he silently cursed himself for forgetting to bring them along the day prior.

"I remembered the Dragunov, but I forgot the emeralds... hey, during the fight, why don't I just forget to use the trenches?" he asked nobody in particular. As he closed in on the castle, he became increasingly worried that the SRCPS might guard the castle and spot the trenches and bayonets. He approached the side of the castle and stared at the trenches before him.

"Either the King is an idiot, or he wants us to have our weaponry so he could enjoy putting us down..." said Bret. He looked at his watch and sighed. It wasn't a good time to think about that now. Leaping over the trenches, Bret knocked on Tails' window. Tails opened it, rubbing an eye.

"Hi, Bret. What's up?"

"The SRCPS is in the castle, and the King is onto us."  
"I know. Are you here for the emeralds?" asked Tails. Bret nodded. Tails turned and walked to his closet, retrieving the bag and taking it back to Bret.

"Word is all over the castle that a huge fight is going to break out."  
Bret looked at the fox. "Does the SRCPS have orders to guard the outside?"  
Tails shook his head. "Eggman is toying with you."

Bret sighed a stressed sigh. "I thought so."

"In any case, here are the emeralds. Can I ask what you think they'll be useful for?" asked Tails as he handed over the bag.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," said Bret, joking. His ears perked up and he cautiously approached the door, placing his ear against it. He could hear an SCRPS member talking, probably on a walkie talkie.

"Has there been any response from Bravo team?" asked the SRCPS member.

"No, sir. It is believed that all of Bravo team is still in the city, either dead or dying."

Bret recalled the horde of "beings" he had seen days prior when hunting for emeralds with Shadow. As the horde broke off of it's original target to follow the hedgehog and wolf, he caught a glimpse of cannibalized soldiers, probably members of this "Bravo Team".

"Why wasn't Alpha team sent in?"

"I don't know, sir. We will continue attempting to contact Bravo team."

"Do that. If you have any word from anyone, let me know immediately, and remember to prepare all Alpha team members for leave at 00:00 tomorrow night.

"Sir."

The soldiers fell silent, and Bret stumbled away from the door, shaken up.

"We have less than 24 hours to prepare our army."

Tails backed up a tad.

"Are you sure?" he asked in a panic, and Bret nodded.  
"We have to hurry."

Bret turned and left through the window with his items. When he returned home, he could think of nothing to do. He set his watch to go off at 7 PM that night.

His dream was different. It was of a new world of peace where everything was right. A world, with one city in the center of one continent, with steam power and a canal going down the middle of town. Everything was beautiful in the city he saw, and in the west lay snowy mountains, some huts noticed. In the east, a vast forest, very healthy. In the north, a large plain with no houses in sight, only people who were enjoying themselves. In the south, a body of water and a waterfall were visible. People played and swam in the water, hiked and enjoyed the forest, rested in the plains, and lived remote lives in the mountains.

And in the world he had created, he was normal, a mobian with no mental problem, a mobian who didn't have so much stress on his mind, a mobian who was loved by friends and did not have a social disorder.

And yet, being 'normal' is not normal at all. Bret walked through the city seeing no signs of anger or corruption. "Hatred and resentment" was unheard of in this land.

In this new utopia of a land, Bret fell in love. No, not with an attractive she-wolf, but with peace.

And he wished the alarm didn't ring. He wished not to return from this place of his "deepest dreams and warmest wishes".

And yet, the utopia vanished and his room appeared.

_Wake up, you must defeat the King. He's evil, he wants to kill you! Kill him first! Kill! Kill! Kill! Do it!_

Bret calmly placed a hand to his head, and reached for his pills. He popped two in his mouth and began to head for the castle, waiting for the pills to take effect. He found the survivors waiting and holding their weapons. This time, all of them were punctual. Bret looked at his watch.

7:08. It was a good thing he jogged to the castle, or he'd be later. Grabbing a bayonet for himself, he stood in front of the crowd.

"Does anyone here know how to use these?" asked Bret. Two humans stepped forward.

"That many, huh? Alright, show us how to do this."

The two survivors began the motions they would normally do to load the weapons. As they mimed the loading, Bret nagged them.

"Faster, faster, faster, faster! Faster! Faster! Are you deaf? Faster!"  
The two men frantically loaded and pulled the trigger, letting out a soft 'click'. Bret nodded.

"Very good, both of you. Now, those of you who cannot load the weapons, here's how you do it..."  
Bret began the process himself as fast as he could, though he knew he'd be using his Desert Eagle and Dragunov. One by one, the survivors repeated the process. As the survivors practiced, Bret approached the two who'd demonstrated in the begginning. He didn't want to seem like he equated being able to load a gun fast with the cure for cancer. As the two men frantically loaded and aimed at various objects, Bret smiled.

"You did well. Very good."

The men looked at the mobian, nodded, and continued. Bret began to practice himself.

Five hours later, he called it.

"Alright, enough!" Bret called. The survivors stopped, and Bret smiled. Most of them proved to be quick learners. Others, not so much.

"You are all doing great. At midnight tomorrow the King will return with the Loyalist army. We will fit as many of you in the far rear trench as possible, more of you in the middle, and I and two others in the front trench. Our ammunition is limited, so if you run out, improvise. Use anything! Just put up a fight, and for all our sakes, watch where you point the rifles. Try and remember that. It'll keep you from blowing the head off the guy next to you. Return tomorrow at 11:30 with anything: glass, bottle caps, rocks, dirt, I don't care. Bring as much junk as you can to use as ammo if necessary."  
Bret was using his dream as a basis for his fighting strategy.

"We will train for another fifteen minutes tomorrow, and then we will prepare for the fight. Return to the care hall tonight, sleep, and nourish yourselves. You must return here at 11:30."

The crowd was silent, only showing signs of approval. If the crowd roared or made too much noise, it would risk alerting the SRCPS, and Stranglehold would be over before it even started. Slowly, it dispersed, and again only Shadow and Bret remained.

"We have little ammunition, you know," Shadow remarked.  
Bret nodded. "Yeah, I know that. Can you..."  
Shadow snapped and three hundred and seventy rounds appeared. Bret scoffed.

"You said you couldn't get that many rounds."

Shadow shrugged. "I don't think the owners would care."  
Bret shook his head 'no'.

"No, you... You don't think that I'll live through this to reap the consequences of theft."  
Shadow was silent.  
"Am I right?"

Shadow turned away.

"I don't think your odds are too great. Who knows how big this army will be-"  
"-And that's what the emeralds are for."  
Shadow turned back to see Bret beckoning.

"Let me explain to you just what 'Plan B' is."

Shadow approached, and Bret whispered. Several seconds later, Shadow nodded and smiled for real, the first time in a while.

"That's a good idea. Yeah, I'll do it."

Bret nodded, and turned to walk home.

"Remember, when it happens..."  
"I know."

Bret fell silent and walked home. He ate a very late dinner of sliced clam and rice, and walked into his living room, where the bullets and magazines for his guns lay scattered about. Opening his knapsack that held the seven emeralds, he scooped up as many dragunov bullets as he could, close to 150. As for his Desert Eagle, he only took two magazines: One in the knapsack, the other already loaded. His knapsack was heavy, but he could try and handle it. Odds were good that he'd be in the trench with the knapsack by his side. Bret was applying what he had witnessed in his war dreams to real life: The trenches, carrying a lot of ammunition for his Dragunov, the seven emeralds, he was applying much of his dream to reality. As for his premonition of not surviving the battle, he had his doubts. As the days progressed, that particular part of the dream changed. Now he was only wounded, now he missed killing the King, now he was killed by explosion, now he was eaten by those beings, now the King surrenders... With all the different possibilities, Bret did not know what to believe. In a daze, he began to read a book that he would relate to: La Kaiele. The story was about a boy who is all but unknown, and must find a way to suppress a corrupt leader. The only difference between La Kaiele and Bret was Bret had to kill the King, La Kaiele only had to expose the corrupt leader and have him arrested.

"If only it were that simple for me," said Bret to nobody.

He read more of the story.

_...and La Kaiele approached the evil man, twisted the gauntlet on the man's wrist, and out popped a blade, still stained with blood of a recent victim. The crowd before the two gasped, and..._

Bret shut the book, and returned it to his bookcase. He was overdue for a shower. As he washed, the steam and heat relaxed him, and reminded him that his body would need more rest for what was about to happen, even if he had a power nap before he practiced shooting with the survivors. When he got out of the shower and changed again, he lay down, but not before setting his watch to wake him at 10 AM if he wasn't already up.

The time was 2:32 in the morning.

Again, Bret dreamt his welcome dream again. This time, there were more people in his utopia of a world. As he passed, many people said 'Hello' or 'How are you' to him, welcoming him to this world of right with open arms. Bret was happy, but it was a 'relaxed happiness'. People waved at him, and he waved back. It seemed like the world was heaven to him, but there was no 'God' or 'Ruler' in this world of his. Bret never decided on if he believed in God or not. To him, such a belief was confusing. Bret only believed in what he knew was true, in what could be proven. He'd never been to heaven or hell, so he couldn't prove either existed... but he couldn't prove they didn't exist, either. Bret had actually spent seven days trying to figure out "God" and "Religion", but to no avail. He'd spent the next week angry that he'd wasted a full seven days trying to unravel something that's been a mystery for so long. So, he'd made a compromise with himself that he'd "Find out if there was a heaven when he died".

If there was, he didn't think God would mind his confusion.

(A/N: I'm trying not to say that Bret is an athiest or that Bret is religious. I'm saying he is both, so I don't step on anyone's beliefs. I myself believe in God, but I think that if I said Bret was religious, I'd be driven up the wall by athiests, and if I said he was an athiest, I'd be driven up the wall by monks. So he's both, of course I'm on the Polytheism case now.)

As Bret slept, he began to lucid dream. A lucid dream is a conscious dream, and Bret became conscious that he was asleep. He decided to walk around the city, exploring. Then, he went to the mountains, then to the plains, then to the forest, and finally to the sea. As he walked around, Bret began to notice that he was the only Mobian in this world of his right now. He walked along the beach, then the dream faded away, and his room came into view again, He rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch.

It was 8:54.

Without much else to do, Bret walked into his room and opened a drawer, reached in, took out a rubber ball, and shut the drawer again. He walked to the side of his house and merely began bouncing the ball against the wall doing something, anything to pass time.

Plop.

Plop.

Plop.

Plop.

He'd had the ball since when he was a pup in the orphanage. Thinking back to how he disliked his time in the orphanage, there were some memories that he enjoyed. He enjoyed playing with his ball, for one thing, he enjoyed watching the orphanage bully get stood up to by the select few children who knew Karate. Unfortunately, he wasn't one of those children at the time. Eventually, the orphanage got shut down, and all the children were sent to other orphan homes. The children were led out of the home by human men and women in white doctor uniforms. The humans scared Bret, but he remembered a bed that was against the wall, and under the bed was a small crawlspace that emptied out into a large wardrobe. He hid in the wardrobe, and the humans didn't notice he was gone. As they checked names off, they believed that Bret may have been adopted before they arrived, and they didn't think that the pup would fear them. As these doctors took the children to waiting buses, one repetitive sound cut through the silence of the home.

Plop.

Plop.

Plop.

After he felt the coast was clear, the pup left the orphanage, and soon became a ward of the state. He'd spent a year doing any jobs that a 9 year old like he could do for money. Eventually, he turned 10, and 11, and he realized that because of his disease, he could sign for the Mental Illness Profit, which is similar to welfare.

The money was enough to keep him fed, and enough for him to pay for the apartment he'd lived in since. Because he was a mobian, he'd already reached his peak, and would not grow any taller, so it was easy for him to seem like an adult. Sure, what he was doing was illegal, but he had to stay somewhere other than a care home. Using the money, he was able to even take Karate lessons, enough to become a Brown Belt. A little bit of practice with Karate was enough for the pup. He smiled as he remembered when he got his brown belt and finally considered himself full grown, not just a baby anymore. Karate also seemed to help his mental health a tad, and his schizophrenia fell silent for the while he had practiced. But, when he quit, the voices slowly came back. Still, Bret had no intentions of returning to karate, though he still kept his _Gi _in the closet.

Jolting, Bret realized he'd zoned out. He looked at his watch.

3:01.

_Phew,_ he thought. He was afraid it was later than that. He'd been remininscing his time away. He walked toward the castle to say hello to Tails, forgetting he had the ball still. He made it to the castle and tapped the window. He knew that the King believed he had him all figured out. In reality, Bret had an ace up his sleeve. Tails didn't answer the window. It was Amy who answered.

"Hi! Come in!"

Bret entered through the window. He heard Amy giggle.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Huh?"

Bret looked at his hand and saw the ball. Unconsciously, he'd been tossing the ball to himself while he walked to the castle. He'd forgotten about it.

"It's a ball... and if that weren't enough, listen to what this ball can do:"  
Bret squeezed the ball in his hand and it let out a squeaking sound. Amy burst into laughter, and Bret put on a hurt face. "What's so funny?" he asked. He just showed her his favorite toy, and now she's laughing at him? Amy wiped a tear and started to talk.

"I'm sorry, Bret," she said, chuckling. "I just... the sight of you with that ball... it just... have you seen a dog with a ball?"

Bret nodded, then understood.

"Oh! Nonononono! No! I don't... I didn't catch... no! I bounce the ball, that's all!" he said, trying to get Amy to think something else. She smiled.

"Okay, suuuuuure. Anyway, why are you here?"

Bret tried to think about why he'd returned to the castle. "I wanted to discuss the trench arrangements. Where is Tails?"  
Amy looked at the door to the bathroom.  
"He's taking a shower. Talk to me."  
"I want you and Tails to meet me tonight at 11:30 where the trenches were dug. Amy, you and Tails will sit in the front trench with me, and watch the emeralds. I'll keep the Loyalists at bay. And if something should happen during the battle... if something happens, give the emeralds to Shadow. After you give him the emeralds, get down as far as possible into the trench."  
Amy nodded, though she didn't really know what Bret meant.

"What about Sonic?"

Bret turned away.

"As far as I know, he's still in the city. I know it seems like he's super strong and the worst of them all. But, when the dust settles, all he is is just another of those 'beings', and he will be fixed, come tomorrow morning."  
Tails exited the bathroom at that time, and waved to Bret. Bret approached the kitsune and started to whisper.

"If I get hurt tonight, continue Stranglehold. Give Stranglehold to someone capable of flying above the city. During the fight, guard the emeralds. If I'm hurt, give the emeralds to Shadow, and get down as far as possible," whispered Bret. Tails nodded.

"Meet me at 11:30 tonight, remember that. You and Amy. You'll be in the first trench with me," said Bret. Tails nodded again.

"Are you sure that Strangehold will work?" asked Bret. Tails was like a bobble head.

"I'm about 93 percent sure that it will work the way I want."

Bret nodded.

"What about the other seven percent?"

Tails shrugged. "Well, I can't guarentee anything."

Bret turned away.

"I'll see you at 11:30," said Bret, walking toward the window. He stopped, and turned to Amy.

"Amy," he said. She turned her head to him.  
"Yes? What is it?"

Bret stared for a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing, never mind."

He'd wanted to tell her to be ready to lose an ally in the fight, but he feared hurting her feelings, so too did he fear her hammer. He felt a connection with Amy that he'd not been able to explain. He was not attracted to her; he just didn't feel the 'spark'. He felt like a family bond was between the two of them, like she was the sibling he'd never had. And in his mind even a sibling relationship was a problem. Because love and affection for even a family member can be distracting, Bret believed that he'd spend tonight worrying for her safety, and he couldn't do that.

Bret was a rather determined fellow. When he woke up in the morning, he'd remind himself of a 'creed' he had to follow when he took Karate:  
I will complete any goal I want, no matter the obstacle in the way.

I will think "when I win" instead of "if I win".

I will strive to do the best I can, no matter the circumstance.

I will live in the present, not in the past, nor in the future.

I will live every single day like it was my last.

And every morning, he'd remind himself of these promises. Such actions often brought success to the wolf whenever he had a goal to complete. He climbed through the window and began walking.

Leaves began to rustle; he'd heard the sound loud and clear.

"Is there someone there?" he called. He could see something poking out of one of the bushes nearby. Bret became cautious. He was unarmed, and only held the ball in his left hand. If this was one of those "beings", he knew he'd have little chance for survival, lest he is lucky and gets the chance to kill said being with his hands again. Whatever it was that was poking out of the bush, it made Bret uncomfortable.

"I said, 'Is there someone there?'" he repeated, clutching the ball, yet not tight enough to make it squeak. Finally, who or what was responsible for the noises slowly climbed out of the bushes, and the wolf was relieved to see that the mobian was not infected. She would have attacked him by now for sure. It was a rabbit, possibly six years old. Unfortunately, Bret knew nothing when it came to children. He only knew that children tend to repeat what parents say, no matter if it was bad or good.  
"Where are your parents?" asked Bret. The rabbit was nervous.

"I...I don't know," she said in her gentle voice, ready to cry at any time. Bret approached and patted her head.

"Come with me."

Bret decided to take her to the castle. He figured that if he'd taken her to Tails, she could stay there until the fight was over, at least. Then they'd find her parents. When he got to the castle window (after climbing through the trenches), she finally spoke again.

"Why are we here?" she asked, frightened of the wolf. Bret said nothing, and tapped the window.

"You have to stay with my friend, unfortunately you need to climb through the window."  
Tails opened the window, and did not notice the rabbit immediately.

"What's wrong? Did you forget something?" asked Tails.

"No, I want you to take care of this girl," replied Bret, making motions to the rabbit. Tails was surpised.

"Cream!" he said, quickly moving aside to allow her to climb in.

"Hi Tails..." she responded sadly as she entered.

"Where is Cheese?"  
"With Mama."  
Tails paused for a minute, then continued. "Where is your mother?"

She sniffled. "I don't know!" she said, finally breaking down into a cry. Tails looked out the window, but Bret was gone already. Tails quickly shut the window and started trying to calm the girl down.

_Later that evening, 11:00 PM._

Bret walked to the trenches to rendevous with the rebel army, carrying his backpack full of ammunition and emeralds, his dragunov strapped to his chest, and his Desert Eagle at his side in a holster. Many people were already there, and Bret was suprised to see the bullets already scattered in the trenches evenly, along with rocks and debris. He looked around.

"Who..."  
Shadow nudged his way through the crowd.

"I divided them as evenly as I could throughout the trenches. There are exactly one hundred and eighty rounds in the two trenches," said Shadow.

"How did you..."  
But Shadow was gone, some would say, with the wind, running. Bret wondered if he was faster than Sonic, but he knew next to nothing about Sonic before death, save the fact that he was faster than sound.

"Wait!"  
Bret turned to see Amy and Tails.

"Shadow! Waiiiit!" called Tails. He bowed his head. "He's... he's gone."

Bret shook his head.

"Don't worry. Everything is going according to plan."  
"Wolf."  
Bret turned and saw an SCRPS member. Then another, and another, and another, and... They pointed weapons, and the rebels pointed back. Bret drew his Desert Eagle.

"Relax. We were told by the King only to warn you that there is still time. We aren't going to fight you. There's time for you to back out. Nobody will come looking for you if you leave with your army now. You have thirty minutes."  
Bret continued pointing his weapon. "And if I refuse?"

The speaking SRCPS member continued.

"Then you will be destroyed in exactly..."

The speaking SRCPS member turned to another. The other SRCPS member looked at a watch on his wrist.

"Twenty nine minutes and... eighteen seconds."

Bret smiled, amused.

"Calculations say .1 percent chance of victory belongs to you," explained the main speaking SRCPS member.  
Bret smirked. "I like those odds."

The SRCPS member turned away.

"I have told you everything I need to."  
The SRCPS members turned and walked away, following the leader. At this time, all survivors had arrived. Bret turned to them.

"Good. Everyone, the time has come. You've come a long way, leaving a normal life when the outbreak took place. You've proven to me that, in the worst situation, where anything can happen, you won't back down. Tonight, we will do battle once again, but this time it is not against walking corpses. We will prove tonight that we will not go silently and without a fight. We will prove tonight that we are willing to do anything to speak against what we feel is unjust. Is tonight going to be easy? No. Some of you will leave these trenches tonight. Some of you will live... but some of you will die. I ask you not to fear death, and should you die tonight, I ask you to know that you died for a good cause, that you died for the good of not the country, but the world. If there are explosions, get down as far as possible in the trench. Any questions?"

One survivor held a hand up.  
"Yeah, I've got a question. Will you marry me?" asked the survivor, and the rest of the army began to snicker. Bret smiled, amused, and pointed at Tails. "I would, man, but I already promised Tails here."

The army snickered again, and Bret shushed them loudly. He listened, and heard distant footsteps, like an army. Bret leapt into the front trench.

"Get ready! Here they come!" called Bret, quickly placing his backpack next to him and opening it. He turned to Tails.

"Where's the rabbit?"

Tails gestured back toward the castle.

"I told her to stay in there, she's in Amy's room."  
Bret grimaced. "How'd you get her to Amy's room?"  
Tails shook his head. "It wasn't easy."  
"Where are our weapons?" asked Amy. Bret shook his head.

"You have none. I have a different job for you."  
Bullets began being fired from the darkness of the forest. None of the rebels were hit. The trenches worked well... but then again, the army was still far off. Bret frantically dug through his backpack for the emeralds. He sighed.

"They aren't here!" he said in suprise. Amy and Tails were not able to respond. Bret turned his head to the two, and winked. The relief on the kitsune and hedgehog's faces was overwhelming.

"At least we have the cover of darkness," said Bret. Soon, blinding lights turned the night to day. The Castle's powerful lighting destroyed the darkness, as well as portable sodium beam lights, courtesy of the Loyalist army.

"Well, so much for that," called one member of the rebel army. Bullets began to fire again, patting the dirt. The firing was closer, close enough for the rebels to hear conversations.

"They're in trenches, we can't hit them from back here!" yelled one voice.

"Then get closer, use artillary!" growled one familiar voice.  
The King.

The Loyalist army grew closer, close enough for the Rebels to get clean shots, but close enough for the Loyalists as well. A loud explosion cuts into the air, a sound like a launch. Then, whatever it was crashed in front of the third trench, sending twelve rebels into the air.

Bret put one hand in the air and pointed to the loyalists, the signal to 'fire'. The second trench began to open fire on the loyalists, taking down two loyalists. The loyalist army wore armor, and the only reason even two died was luck, perhaps a bullet in the neck, or a bullet to the head. Bret stuck his head up from the trench along with his dragunov. He fired, piercing the armor of one enemy, then another, and another, and another, and another, and...

Click. Click.

He ducked again, and more bullets fired into the trenches, with return fire. Loyalists fell, but rebels did, as well.

Bret reloaded, and again opened fire with his dragunov. Bayonets fired from behind him, and he used five rounds, killing five more loyalists, but they kept coming. The loyalist army was large, and the rebel army was shrinking. Artillary rounds landed around the trenches, throwing dirt into the air. More rebels were thrown into the air, Bret, Tails, and Amy all shrunk further down into the trench. One more artillary round landed directly in the third trench, leaving only five rebels in that trench.

"Attack the first trench, you fools!" called the King. "Blow it up!"

"We can't!" replied another loyalist. "That trench is too close, our artillary can't attack it!"

Bret came up again and fired five more rounds, missing one, but killing four more loyalists. Some rebels in the second trench began climbing and running forward, but were cut down very quickly. All ammunition for the bayonets had been exhausted. The rebels began using debris. Most of these "bullets" did little, maybe injuring a loyalist. Most of the "bullets" didn't even make it to the loyalists.

Another artillary shell fired, and blew up between the first and second trenches. Bret fired his last dragunov rounds into the loyalists, but the army was still too big.

"Hold your fire!" called the King. The loyalists stopped firing, and the surviving rebels continued aiming.

Bret remained hidden under the trench, and tore at the strap that held the dragunov to his chest. The rifle clattered to the dirty floor, littered with bullets. He put his left hand on the Desert Eagle in the holster on his leg. He slowly pulled the gun loose.

"You never had a chance. Show yourself, leader of this failure! Show yourself!" called the King. Bret peeked above the trench to see the Loyalists standing still, pointing weapons at the trenches. The King stood in front of the troops. He sighed, and looked behind him at the castle.

"Come up slowly, and show me the emeralds! I know you have them!"  
Bret took a deep breath, and climbed over the trench. The loyalists all pointed weapons on the wolf, startled at his sudden appearance. The King nodded.

"Good. I knew I shouldn't have trusted you in the first place."

Bret shook his head. "No, you didn't. You're powerhungry, a maniac."  
The King ignored him. "I want my emeralds."  
Bret shook his head again. "I don't have them-"  
"Liar! Give. Me. My. Emeralds!"

Bret shook his head again. "I want something for them."  
"No! Give me them, or I'll take them from your dead body!"

Bret was silent, and the King sighed. "What is it that you want?" asked the King. Bret smiled.

"Blood."  
He held the gun up to the King, and felt a collision in his waist, followed by a burning sensation. He looked down and saw he was shot. Growling, he took aim, and...

**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**

The wolf fired all of his rounds into the King, and time seemed to slow. The bullets met the King's torso before anyone could react. All six shots. They all struck the King, and he died before he hit the ground. All too soon, time returned to normal, and the army opened fire again. Bret let out a loud yelp, and bullet after bullet after bullet struck his torso, some exiting through his back. One final round met the wolf's forehead, and he fell backwards into the first trench, on top of his dragunov's exhausted bullet casings. His eyes shut halfway, and he died, with the empty Desert Eagle still in his hand.

_Bret... _

Amy and Tails weren't quite able to believe what had just happened. As they stared at their comrade in disbelief, the Loyalist army continued opening fire.

"Kill them all!"

More of the Rebels were killed.  
All hope seemed lost. The wolf was killed, the army was in tatters, and the emeralds were nowhere to be found.

An explosion erupted again, but it was not the same as the artillary shells. It was a new sound, a sonic boom. Amy and Tails looked up with tear filled eyes, seeing a glowing yellow-gold streak in the sky. The streak came to a sudden stop, and it lowered to the ground in front of the trench. The streak turned out to be a certain golden hedgehog, with crimson stripes on his quills.  
The hedgehog was Shadow. He stared at the loyalist army with a frown. Shaking off it's confusion, the Loyalists opened fire, striking Shadow with bullet after bullet, yet he remained where he stood, unmoved. The Loyalists continued firing, and he walked forward. Finally, he leapt into the air, and flew into the center of the Loyalist army.

"Chaos Blast!"

With that, an explosion tore through from the center of the Loyalists all the way out, stopping short of the trenches. In the violent explosion, one could hear screams, screams of the Loyalists.

And the explosion died out. The only thing remaining was Shadow. All loyalist life had vanished, incinerated by the hedgehog's attack. He turned to the trenches, and approached. His golden shine remained brilliant.

"Tell me where your new disease is," said Shadow. Tails looked up with tear filled eyes at the hedgehog that singlehandedly destroyed the Loyalist army. Tails pointed a quivering finger at the castle.

"I... I left it in... my closet," whispered Tails. Shadow nodded.

"If you have another batch of that disease, you can bring your friend back," said Shadow over his shoulder. He flew through the window, and seconds later flew out in a golden streak with the disease. Stranglehold. He flew through the destroyed city, device in hand, and very quickly found the blue hedgehog. He carried it above the city. Sonic seemed bewildered and confused. Who interrupted his dinner?

"This is where you get off, Sonic."  
"**RAAGH!**"

Shadow dropped the 'being', and threw Stranglehold down, too. The device made contact with the hedgehog, and burst as Shadow flew away. The blast enveloped the entire city, destroying anyone too far gone, and bringing back anyone who still had a chance. Shadow smirked.

"I'll see you soon, Sonic," called Shadow. With that, he continued flying far and fast, until he circumnavigated the world and found his way back to Westopolis. He slowed down, and could see people getting up. Sonic was on his hands and knees, coughing violently.

"Sonic."

Sonic finished coughing, and looked up weakly at Shadow.

"Sh...Sh...a...d...ow..." said Sonic in a quivering voice. "Wh...I... I was... I felt angry... at everyone..."  
Sonic wheezed, and took another breath.

"I... I don't know what happened. I remember fighting Eggman, and I got a charley horse in my foot... and... and then I was with Tails... and then... I got mad at them... and... and..."  
Shadow nodded.

"You've had a near death experience. Clinically, you were dead for months, but Tails and a few friends decided to work on something to bring you back."

Sonic stared. "I...I...died?"

Shadow nodded, his fur returning to it's original sheen of black and crimson. The emeralds scattered in seven directions.

"And... who? Who brought me back?"

"Technically, you weren't brought back originally. The first attempt to ressurect you failed, and you went on your rampage. Unfortunately, the disease-"  
"-disease?"

Shadow paused, and watched as Sonic stared morosely. He'd been through a lot.

"Tails created the 'cure' for you out of four diseases. Once the 'diseases' failed, you went on your rampage and killed a lot of people."  
"How?"

"You were going around using anything to beat them," Shadow lied. He didn't want to tell Sonic he'd been canniballizing people to satisfy his hungers. Still, the latter was not much easier on the mind. Sonic's head fell, and he continued drinking in the news.

"Your disease was contagious, meaning whomever you killed came back and did as you did-"  
"-Who brought me back this time? Will I go on another rampage?" asked the hedgehog, panicked. Shadow shook his head.

"You don't need to worry about it, Tails guarenteed that you wouldn't do that again now. The wolf wouldn't let him use the disease if it was dangerous."  
"Wolf?"

Shadow nodded, and turned.

"I think you'd better come with me."

Sonic nodded, still dazed, and stretched his leg muscles. Shadow took off, and Sonic followed.

He was just as fast as he'd ever been, but not quite as dead.

End of 13

(A/N: The reason this is so long was because I wasn't able to break it up. I couldn't figure out where to break it up without making it too short. The next chapter may be the last, or maybe not. I don't know.)


	15. Mission Complete

Chapter 14

Mission Complete

"You know? Life's funny- You can sleep off a hangover but you can't sleep off ugly."  
-Noble Willingham (C.D Parker), _Walker, Texas Ranger_

Shadow slowed down, Sonic stopping as well. He stared up at the castle in surprise, Eggman did all of this?  
"Climb through this window," commanded Shadow. The trenches had been filled in, with the bodies, as well. As it turns out, Tails still had some of Stranglehold left over, but not enough for all of the survivors that were lost. The body of the wolf lay on a table, Amy fully closing his half shut eyes.

"Who is that?"  
Amy and Tails knew the voice anywhere.  
"SOOONIC!" they yelled in unison. Sonic smiled, and flashed his trademark thumbs up. "What's up, guys?" he asked. Sure, the hedgehog still had scarring and his flesh was still reforming, but he was the same Sonic to Amy and Tails. He acted as if nothing had happened. Amy couldn't resist. She bum rushed the hedgehog and locked him in a tight hug, a hug that might make him experience death once again.

_No doubt Bret's going to bust a gut when he hears about this, _thought Tails, confident in his disease. When Amy finally released Sonic, she noticed his eyes locked on the bloody body on the table. Her giddy smile turned to a frown.

"Who is that?" asked Sonic again.

"His name is Bret, Sonic. He killed Eggman," said Tails, still sad for his friend, though he was confident in his ability to revive him.

"What I don't understand is why he didn't just let Shadow use Chaos Blast on the army instead of having us go through all of this trouble," said Tails. Shadow shrugged.

"That's Bret," said Amy. "Not really one to think things through."

"Sonic, did Shadow explain..."  
Sonic nodded. He still felt a daze. "I still don't understand how it's possible. I had a charley horse, that's all!"

Tails turned to Bret's body, and removed any bullets from the body that didn't find an exit through the back. After that, he cleaned and injected the wounds with the new Stranglehold. Slowly, the wounds shut with new skin, and Bret began to cough, groaning with a pounding headache.

"Bret?" asked Amy, concerned. He rolled off the table, and Sonic, Amy, and Tails quickly caught him. The wounds on his body were covered, and became mere scars as bone reformed over appropriate areas.

"Hey, welcome back, buddy," said Tails. Bret continued coughing, looking around in a complete daze.

"Are you alright?" asked Amy. He paused in his coughing, and looked at Amy.

"S....sis?" he asked, in a hoarse voice, though he'd only been dead for no more than an hour, maybe two. Amy looked at him, confused. Did he have a sister that he neglected to tell her about? He shook off his daze, and finally regained the ability to stand. Standing now, he eyed the blue hedgehog. "Uh, hello," said Bret, at a loss of what to say. Moments ago, this hedgehog would've probably been eating the wolf, then the wolf would come back and do the same thing. Now, he's talking to the hedgehog, and being somewhat polite about it. Sonic playfully flashed a thumbs up.

"Yo. Name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."  
He held a hand out to Bret, whom shook it with a firm handshake.

"Bret the Wolf, glad to meet you."

"I heard you killed Eggman, Bret."  
Bret nodded. "And his army... killed... me..." he said slowly, suddenly figuring out what had happened to bring him back again. He turned to Tails.

"Did you..."  
Tails nodded.

"Wait, so I spent so much time trying to get this disease to your friend, and I ended up needing it, too?"  
Tails nodded again. Bret's eyes hollowed.

"Ironic."  
He looked down at his hand, now covered in grime and blood. Though the hedgehog returned, he still bore clues of his past as one of the infected. For the first time, Sonic sniffed around, and he regretted it.

"Ew! Gross! I need a shower!"  
Amy and Tails plugged their noses. "I'll say," they said in unison.  
"You take a shower. Amy and I have to finish Operation Stranglehold."  
Amy looked at the wolf curiously. The King was dead, Sonic was back, wasn't Stranglehold finished?

Bret beckoned for Amy to follow him out the door. The castle was devoid of all life, apparently it was evacuated, probably before the battle.  
"Wait, we have to get Cream from my room," said Amy. Bret nodded. It was true, Cream had taken refuge in Tails' room originally, but when the battle started, she probably fled to Amy's room, which was further from the action. On the way, Bret tried to remember what happened after his death. He recalled being shot and killed, but not a single memory of what happened after. And even then, he remained fairly sure something had happened. Did he go to heaven? Hell? Nowhere? He couldn't remember. If there was a God, maybe it was His design to forbid Bret's recollections? If not, then maybe he didn't remember anything because nothing may have happened? He let out a low growl, mad mostly at himself for forgetting something so important.

"Bret?"

Amy's voice pulled him from his thoughts. He turned his head to face the girl.

"When you... came back, you called me 'sis'... Do you remember that?"

Bret tried to think back. All he actually remembered was being on a table coughing. He didn't remember saying anything.

"Because you said 'sis', and I want to know what that meant."  
Bret tried to think. He didn't remember calling her that. He didn't remember saying anything at that time.

"I...I don't know. I didn't even think I said anything."  
"Well, you called me 'sis'."

Bret shrugged, without a clue as to what he'd said that for.

"I guess you're family to me, when I'm half-conscious, at least."

Amy smiled a half smile. "I guess so."  
The conversation fell silent for the rest of the trip to Amy's room, Bret still trying to think about what happened to no avail. Amy opened the door and found Cream asleep on Amy's bed. Amy turned her head to whisper to Bret.

"She's worried about her Mother. They probably got separated in the city."

Bret turned his head to whisper back. "You need to send a party out to search for her mother."  
Amy looked at him in confusion. "Me?"

Bret scoffed. "You're the princess, remember?"

He turned away and led Amy to the throne room. Surprisingly enough, his memory didn't fail him. Bret looked around the throne, and found the crown. He turned to Amy and placed the item on her head. She smiled, still in confusion. Bret looked around. He spotted a camera and a microphone, both read 'live'. He turned to Amy, and smiled. "You need to alert the world of everything that has happened tonight." Amy nodded.

"You have to be strong, Amy. Don't hesitate to say a word, show this world that you're stronger than the King."

Amy nodded, and took a deep breath as Bret rushed behind the camera. He fumbled around with it for a while before he got the recording light. He gave Amy the 'high' sign. She looked at the camera.

"Hi! I'm Amy, Amy Rose. And today, King Eggman was killed in an attack by an army of rebels. With that, the rebel army's plans have succeeded, and the tyranny and corruption of former King Eggman is no more. I will be taking his place as ruler, now, and I promise that this power will not corrupt me. I promise that the negatives this planet has gone through under the rule of Eggman will not happen again. But, I need your help, too. I need people to work with me at this castle. It's way too big for me, so if you want to help out, show up tomorrow. Our world will not go through what happened under Eggman twice, I promise that."

Bret was surprised. Amy had stuttered a few times in her speech, but other than that, she did very well. He shut the camera off, and several minutes later, phones began ringing. Bret answered one phone, and another, and another, and another, and....

"They're all calls from your people," said Bret. "They're thrilled!" he said, disregarding one or two calls from people that preferred the King.

_Hey, nobody's perfect, _thought Bret.

Amy was thrilled, and Bret thought about Operation Stranglehold. The last two steps.

IX: Place Princess In Power

X: Restore order

Thinking about it, Eggman has been killed and order has been restored, and Amy was now in power... Bret smiled a big smile.

"Operation Stranglehold is complete."

--

Two days later...

Bret's POV:

It had been two days, and already people were working with Amy at the castle. Tails had returned to his own home, which was overgrown in weeds and brush, and as the days passed, Sonic filled in more, and he no longer resembled a corpse. He was Sonic once again, save a few scars clearly visible from the bullets that struck him down in the first place. I went back to my home, and started to think again. We've killed the King. I thought about my death, how similar it was to Sonic's. I thought about everything that's happened: exhuming the hedgehog's body, taking two pills that made the voices silent, going to the city to find survivors, everything. I thought about it, and apparently the world did as well. I was known now by the world, but nothing changed. I wasn't famous, or infamous, and frankly I'm glad. I'd hate it. Can you imagine walking down the street and someone pointing to you and saying "Hey, isn't that the guy that killed King Eggman?"

I was known by my allies as 'Bret'. I was known my the voices, however, as The Master of Disaster.

THE END.


	16. The Stuff You May Have Missed

Chapter 15

The Stuff You May Have Missed

"The Stuff You May Have Missed" is a tradition for me to use in my other stories, so I'm keeping it up and doing it once more. It's exactly what you'd think: Interesting facts and references I've used in the story that you may not have noticed.

The Stuff You May Have Missed:

-The City of Bellic that is mentioned is a reference to Niko Bellic from GTA IV.

-Bret's attitude is similar to that of "The Punisher" at times.

-Bret's death is foreshadowed in his dream before he attempted to kill the King again.

-I am not making fun of or taking light to schizophrenia. It is a very real and very serious illness that I myself was

almost diagnosed with as a child. I gave Bret the disease because I knew that it was unusual for an OC to have a disease, or any real flaws. I didn't want Bret to be perfect. I succeeded in turning him into a malfunctioning robot.

-The trenches used are a reference to WWI trench warfare.

-Bret and his watch symbolize the importance of time, struggle with time, and wishing life away.

-Rouge calls Bret different names about as much as Scorp calls Zaros stuff like "Zarey, Zarry, Zarrorific, etc" in my Runescape series.

-Bret resorts to primitive instincts such as growling and leering when something is done that he doesn't like.

-The SRCPS (Strategic Rescue and Civil Protective Squad) is similar to S.T.A.R.S (Special Tactics and Rescue Squad) from Resident Evil. Alpha Team and Bravo Team are also used as S.T.A.R.S units in Resident Evil games and movies.

-"Operation Stranglehold" is used in the movie "Delta Force 2" with Chuck Norris.

-The Loyalist Army gets it's name for being Loyal to a corrupt King. In times before the US declared independence from Great Britain, Americans who were loyal to the Mother Country were known as "Loyalists".

-In Chapter 13, Bret's dream of a utopia is of "Scatland", at least how I picture it. Words in quotation marks are actually lyrics from the "Song of Scatland" by, John Paul Larkin A.K.A. Scatman John.

- A _Gi, _as mentioned in Chapter 13, is a karate uniform.

-In Chapter 13, Bret's description of something smacking into his waist followed by a burning sensation is actually a fairly accurate description of being shot. "Being shot really doesn't hurt as bad as you'd think," says an ex-marine I knew that was shot twice at war.

--

Shout outs (Not Cash Cab):

I'd like to personally thank the following:  
-John Hiatt. You are an outstanding songwriter with skills to match any guitarist. You have my respect.

-SamuraiYoshi. You're desire to make this story into a comic is a major reason why I continued. You wanting to make a comic shows me that some people really do read my stories, and some people really do enjoy them. Not only that, but your positive reviews and other such praise gave me the drive and will to continue and finish this story. Had you not praised this story, I likely would not have finished. The wind would've definitely gone out of my sails. Kudos to you, man!

Oh, and a side note: I'm well aware that Knuckles vanished after Bret snapped his neck several chapters ago. I kept forgetting to involve him, but rest assured that after Tails revived Bret (My God, what were you _THINKING?!_), he still had enough of his concoction left over to find and bring back Knuckles.

Knuckles suffered an achy neck for the next three days.

I leave you with one final quote:

"It's a lot more fun to play with [the sharks] than to catch them because they'll be there tomorrow. They'll be there tomorrow when you play with them."  
-Frank Mundus

**This story was first uploaded to this website on 5/30/2009 and has concluded as of 7/30/2009. It has taken approximately 60 days to complete. It is about 198KB.**


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